As pandemic-era federal universal school lunch program ends, DeKalb County schools adapt for students

As a federal program enacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide free school lunches for all comes to an end, DeKalb County area school districts are preparing for the 2022-23 school year with plans of their own.

The national program allowed public schools to universally provide lunch for free to all its students, meant to help alleviate financial burdens on families as a result of the pandemic. For the first time since 2020, most schools across the country will again require students living above the poverty line to pay for their lunches.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, students who attend a school utilizing the National School Lunch Program are still eligible to receive a free lunch if their household income is at or below 130% of the federal poverty line. Students whose household income is between 130 and 185% of the federal poverty line can receive a reduced price lunch.

For Sycamore Community School District 427, lunches during the 2022-23 school year will cost $2.70, breakfasts will cost $1.50, and milk – which is considered an add-on – will cost $0.55, school officials said.

Sycamore schools participate in the National School Lunch Program, but Superintendent Steve Wilder said the district won’t know how many students are eligible for free or subsidized lunches until the school year begins Wednesday.

“The most recent percentage was approximately 24%, and I don’t expect that to change significantly,” Wilder said of the number of Sycamore students expected to qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program are required use foods that have a certain level of quality.

“We participate in the National School Lunch Programs so meals and snacks are required to meet their standards,” Wilder said.

For the month of August, students at Sycamore Elementary schools will have 11 different lunch entrees ranging from BBQ pork ribs to Italian meatball subs to fluffy pancakes and more. Fruit and vegetables of the day are offered with each meal. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and crispy chicken garden salads also are available every day, no matter the featured entree of the day. Arbor Management is responsible for sourcing the food provided to schools in the Sycamore school district.

Wilder says he thinks it’s hard to tell what the affect of the end of the national program providing universal free lunches will have on the ratio of students buying lunches compared to packing lunches because the district doesn’t have good numbers on any actual day.

“The lunch counts vary for different reasons, but I expect that we will see more students bringing lunch this year as a result of the change,” Wilder said.

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Hannah Lamothe gives her son Wesley a kiss goodbye on his first day of second grade as he waits for his bus to Kingston Elementary School Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in front of Genoa Elementary School. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

DeKalb schools to still offer free lunches for all

In DeKalb Community School District 428, plans to halt the national free lunch program aren’t expected to have much impact, said Mike Chamness, district food services manager. That’s because a new program is expected to launch for the 2022-23 school year: a “Community Eligibility Provision” option for district students and families.

“All students will continue to have the option to receive a free breakfast and/or lunch each day,” Chamness said. “Student participation in our breakfast and lunch program continues to increase each year. Our food service team provides food sampling, engages with the students during meal times and sends out annual student surveys to gather feedback that we use to continuously improve our program.”

Chamness said the district always records a high number of students using school-offered lunch programs, especially the district’s breakfast program since an option was implemented for breakfasts in the classroom.

“I have not encountered students having trouble affording lunch,” Chamness said, adding he’s not privy to situations where affordability can act as a barrier to students being able to eat at school.

Along with the lunch offerings, DeKalb schools have adopted ways to ensure a reduction of food waste over time.

“We have share tables set up at each school,” Chamness said. “Share tables have baskets on them where students may return whole wrapped food they choose not to eat. These items are in compliance with state and local health and food safety codes. These food items are then available to other students who may want additional servings.”

Any leftovers in the baskets are collected after each lunch period and donated to area nonprofits, Chamness said.

Cindy Carpenter, director of business and finance for DeKalb District 428, said the district was headed toward adopting a universal lunch program even before the pandemic due in part to the growing number of families who would quality for free or reduced lunch anyway.

“But this is being able to transition from that to this other program just made a whole lot of sense to us, so we were ready for it, so our parents would not see an impact,” Carpenter said.

Nearly half, or 58%, of DeKalb District 428 families come from low-income backgrounds, Carpenter said.

“So, a little more than half, close to 60% would have qualified for a free or reduced meal just naturally through the National School Lunch Program/Meal Program,” Carpenter said. “But now that we’re in this other program, all students would eat for free regardless of their income.”

Funding for the community eligibility program is also funneled through the federal government’s National School Lunch Program, at no cost to the local taxpayer and no fees.

“It’s all money that we will get reimbursed to pay from the federal government,” Carpenter said. “Usually, it was about $2.75 for a lunch, and I believe $1.50 for a breakfast, so that’s about what it was pre-[COVID-19].”

In DeKalb schools, some schools at the elementary level don’t have an in-house kitchen, so meals are made elsewhere by the district’s food provider, Aramark, and then brought to the schools daily. As in Sycamore, daily offerings must fall within mandated nutrition guidelines.

Common childhood fare is often popular, Carpenter said.

“I know the kids usually like the pizzas and the chicken nuggets, those type of things,” Carpenter said. “Stuff like that, you know, they’ll typically like to eat even at home. And with it comes with a milk whether white milk or chocolate.”

Before the pandemic, DeKalb schools served about 4,000 meals per day, Carpenter said.

“Definitely since meals were free, we’ve seen really an uptick in participation where students are getting the meals in the schools,” Carpenter said. “And, actually, we’ve seen a really big increase in breakfast participation.”