Thousands of CT students no longer eligible for free school meals. Legislator says it’s ‘a real failure of the state’

Hartford Courant – Tuesday, August 26, 2025
By Livi Stanford

With the students heading back to school this week, 12,729 students who qualify for reduced-price meals will no longer receive free school meals, exacerbating the financial burdens of families and for school districts which are often forced to absorb the cost of student debt from unpaid meals, according to school nutrition advocates.

“For these families, the return of meal charges isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a serious financial hit,” said Daniel Fitzmaurice, director of advocacy for the United Way of CT. “Despite working hard at their jobs, their paychecks can’t keep up with the rising cost of basic needs. Providing no-cost school meals is a direct, cost-effective solution we should continue to expand in Connecticut to support children and families.”

In the 2024-25 school year, the meals were covered with remaining American Rescue Plan Act dollars which have since expired. From 2020 to this year, all students qualifying for reduced priced meals received free breakfast and lunch, according to End Hunger CT!

A reduced price meal costs $3.50 which will result in a household with two children paying over $1,200 for lunches over this school year, according to End Hunger CT!, a nonprofit focused on ending hunger. School lunch costs vary by district but are increasing this year in some places due to inflation.

End Hunger CT! reported that households within the reduced price income range between $42,000 and $60,000 for a family of four fall above the federal poverty line but below the ALICE threshold known as the Asset Limited Income Constrained and Employed.

ALICE refers to households who are not considered poor but are still unable to afford basic needs, according to End Hunger CT! adding that 40% of households, tens of thousands of working parents face meal charges.

Stephanie Deason, president of the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut and food service director Stonington Public Schools, expects overall unpaid meal debt to rise at school districts as a result of students not receiving free meals who qualify for reduced-priced meals.

She added that students who are aware of owing a debt may be reluctant to eat lunch, which also causes increased concerns.

School districts are already struggling with unpaid meal school debt.

A January survey of The School Nutrition Association of Connecticut found that at the end of 2024, 73 school districts out of 169 participating in the National School Program had accumulated $862,555 in unpaid meal debt.

Although leaders of the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut added that the survey is not scientific, they say that it illustrates a significant problem in school communities and the need to bring back a universal school meal program, as was implemented during the pandemic.

In the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers introduced HB 7273 which would impose a 2 cent tax per fluid ounce on sweetened beverages, syrups and powders that would be allocated to a universal free school meals program for reimbursement to local and regional boards of education for the provision of free school breakfasts and lunches to all public school students, according to the bill. The legislation did not pass.

“The working class family went from receiving free meals to coming up with the money somehow while battling high food costs,” said Amari Brantley, policy coordinator for End Hunger CT!. “Cafeterias are the biggest restaurants in the world but yet your household income defines where you get to sit, what you get to eat and your experience. Children have no control over their household income but their household income defines their experience in a cafeteria.”

Brantley also cited concerns about the loss of universal breakfast for 180,000 students, which the legislature discontinued in 2024.

“Research consistently shows that students who eat school breakfast and lunch have better attendance, higher test scores, and fewer behavioral issues,” he said. “School meals also improve children’s long-term health by reducing risks of obesity, heart disease, and nutrient deficiencies. Pediatricians see these effects firsthand.”

Rep. Gary A. Turco, D-Newington, a cosponsor of HB 7273, said Friday he was disappointed the legislation failed and that students who qualify for reduced priced meals will no longer receive free meals.

‘I think it is a real failure of the state and the legislature to not be able to at least include what we had been previously funding, which is the reduced priced meals being free,” he said. “I am extremely disappointed.”

Access this article at its original source.