Education officials around the state, including in Graham and Greenlee counties, are praising a recent decision by the Arizona Department of Education to waive school lunch fees entirely for students who already qualify for reduced-price lunches.
Outgoing Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman announced on Dec. 14 her department will allocate $6.75 million in pandemic relief funds to waive fees for students qualifying for reduced-price school meals.
Set to begin in January, the funding will make school meals free for thousands of Arizona students who do not already qualify for federally funded free meals. The Education Department said the funding will last through the end of the 2023-2024 school year and will pay for over 2.2 million meals.
“Ensuring no child in Arizona goes hungry is not a political issue. In fact, we have a moral obligation as a state to do so,” Hoffman said. “I strongly believe that school meals should be universally free across our country because students cannot learn effectively if one of their most basic needs is not met. While we continue to fight for universal free meals, funding like this will help remove barriers for families and students across Arizona. And I urge our legislature to make this funding permanent once relief dollars expire.”
Graham County School Superintendent Donna McGaughey agreed the funding will make a positive impact. “Children can’t function if they are hungry, and unfortunately, not all families can’t ensure their children leave their homes in the morning after having a nutritious breakfast,” She said. “Some children go until lunch before eating anything, and I know they can’t always concentrate when they are thinking about how much longer they have to go until lunch.”
Morenci Unified School District Superintendent Jennifer Morales said her district has 148 students who will benefit from the meal funding.
"While this affects a small portion of our student population, any efforts used to benefit a child’s well-being is well-worth it,” she said. “When students are hungry, they are unable to concentrate and often struggle behaviorally and academically. Our students and parents have enough issues to face, and lack of funds for meals should not be one.”
Currently, a family of four with an annual household income between $36,076 and $51,338 pay a reduced price for school meals. Families making less have access to free meals in schools operating the National School Lunch Program.
“If parents earn even $1 more than those thresholds, they have to pay more,” said Angie Rodgers, president and CEO of the Arizona Food Bank Network. “These are families that are struggling to make ends meet, especially right now, with rising food prices. They’re oftentimes unable to cover those fees, day in and day out, leading kids to go without or schools to take on debt. The investment announced by Superintendent Hoffman today is a win-win for families and schools.”
On Dec. 13, researchers from the Food Policy and Environment Research Group at the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University published preliminary findings from a statewide assessment of the costs and benefits of making healthy school meals more accessible. The university said these findings underscore that making healthy school meals accessible to all kids at no cost results in improved food security, attendance and academic performance.
“While our study focused on the impact of school meals being accessible to all kids at no cost, it also found that eliminating the ‘reduced price’ copay leads to greater participation in school meal programs overall,” said Sarah Martinelli, clinical associate professor at ASU’s College of Health Solutions.
Families will still be required to submit an application for Free and Reduced-Price School Meals to their child’s school for eligibility determination as well as for federal and state data reporting purposes. Schools are encouraged to let families know before January that all students who qualify for reduced-price meals will receive free meals.
For a summary of the ASU assessment, visit https://azfoodbanks.org/healthy-school-meals/. The Depart of Education said the full research report will be released and available on the Arizona Food Bank Network’s website in January 2023.
