Aid from the federal government has enabled Massachusetts to provide free breakfast and lunch for each K-12 student in public school, but with that program set to expire, lawmakers on Beacon Hill want to use state tax dollars to make free meals permanent.
Jennifer Lemmerman from anti-hunger nonprofit Project Bread said returning to paid meals when federal waivers expire at the end of the school year — fully funded for the first time through the March 2020 CARES Act — will affect as many as 250,000 school children in the state.
“Massachusetts will return to the tiered pay system that leaves too many behind,” Lemmerman said.
Lemmerman said permanently eliminating the cost for families to feed breakfast and lunch to students will also end the stigma and bullying children face when their peers learn they participate in free or reduced cost meal programs.
Project Bread president Erin McAleer told lawmakers and supporters during a virtual press conference in support of the bill that the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated hunger in the state.
“Today, 16.6% of families with children in Massachusetts are food insecure. Those numbers are over 20% for Black and Latino families,” McAleer said.
The bill filed by Sen. Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) and Rep. Andres Vargas (D-Haverhill) would put the burden of reimbursing school districts for the cost of the meals onto the state, meaning state tax resources would likely be needed to fund the free meals.
Project Bread estimates funding free meals for each student would cost the state between $100 million and $120 million a year.
