Funding coming to offset food cost
Eligible towns to get aid; cash for free school meals uncertain
HARTFORD — As food prices continue to rise, eligible Connecticut schools and families will get a new infusion of funding to help meet the need while the future of funding for universal free school meals remains uncertain.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal gathered with advocates in Hartford’s North End to announce more than $10 million in additional federal money for school meal programs and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, which was previously known as food stamps and is now known SNAP. The funding was approved as part of the federal budget passed by President Joe Biden in December.
“Right now is an especially challenging time because food costs are rising at a staggering, steep pace, and families are struggling with the rising cost of food’‘’ Blumenthal said in Hartford. “We will not stand by while families and children go hungry. ... The inflation in food costs is crushing for all families, but most especially for working families and poor families.’’
The money will go to the state Department of Agriculture for distribution through the towns to fund free school lunches for qualifying districts.
Individual families are eligible for free school meals if they earn up to $36,000 per year for a family of four. Families of four that earn up to $51,000 per year are eligible for reduced-cost meals.
If 40% of the students in a public school qualify for free lunch, then all students in the school becomes eligible, regardless of the family’s income. Students in after-school programs who are eligible can receive supper, too, officials said.
While complicated funding formulas will decide the final amounts, Connecticut is expecting about $10 million to $15 million over last year’s total.
The additional federal money comes at a time when the state legislature is debating how much money can be spent in the future on breakfasts and lunches. During the coronavirus pandemic, towns across the state receiving additional federal funding from Washington, D.C., and were able to provide free lunches for all students.
The additional federal money ran out at the end of 2022. As a result, the state legislature must decide — amid multiple priorities in a $24 billion annual budget — how much money will be set aside for breakfasts and lunches in the future. Lamont is scheduled to unveil his two-year
budget on Feb. 8, and the next two-year budget starts on July 1.
A group known as the School Meals for All CT coalition had been hoping that the legislature would move quickly last week with an emergency certified bill to increase funding, but that did not happen as lawmakers could not immediately agree on what to do. They were still studying the issue Monday.
Asked Monday by The Courant on the latest updates on meals, Lamont responded, “We’re talking about it. As you know, over 40% of the kids most in need do get the federal support right now. They did before, and that’s not going to change. The question is: what do you do for other kids? Do you want the state taxpayers to pay for 100% of that or maybe some shared process with the municipalities? So we’re still working through that.’’
Lucy Nolan, policy director for End Hunger CT!, said recently that the group was disappointed by the lack of action but will continue working on the issue.
“Based on reports from school districts across the state, meal counts are down and meal accounts are in the red,’’ Nolan said. “Parents and people who work with students tell us that many students are simply not eating. While we understand the need to work through the legislative processes, the fact is students across the state are going hungry today . ... We look forward to working with members in the coming weeks to find shortand long-term solutions that will put food in the mouths of children.”
In Hartford, Nolan said, “Frankly, there’s no point in putting any money into education if the kids aren’t fed because that’s the foundation for all of our education.’’
Nationwide, the federal budget for the current fiscal year includes $154 billion for SNAP, which includes an increase of $13.4 billion compared to last year, $28.5 billion for child nutrition programs that include school breakfast and lunch, and $6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.
In Hartford, various legislators have submitted bills to create permanent free meal programs in Connecticut’s public schools.
After the federal pandemic money expired, California, Maine and Colorado stepped forward to enact state-funded meal programs.
Massachusetts, Vermont and Nevada have approved funding for universal meals for the entirety of the current 2022-2023 academic year.
Statewide, about 35% of Connecticut’s 514,000 students qualified last year for free breakfast and lunch through the federal programs. Between 200,000 and 230,000 Connecticut students have automatic access to free meals because they attend one of 483 schools statewide that qualified under a special program.
Lonnie Burt, a registered dietitian and senior food service director in Hartford who has been working in the schools for 38 years, said, “I have seen a lot over my years, and I have not seen budgets like this or food costs like this or escalation of prices ever to the level that we are seeing today. So, we all need some help . ... We know that it’s going to make a difference in Connecticut.’’