Ohio lawmakers consider free meals for all K-12 students

Farah Siddiqi

By Lauren Cohen / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

S.B. 109, a bill that would provide free breakfast and lunch to public and chartered nonpublic Ohio school students, currently sits in the Senate's Finance Committee amid the state budget process.

If included in the budget, due July 1, $300 million would be allocated to the program. Ohio Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid), who co-sponsors the bill, said feedback has been positive, but this bill is fairly expensive.

"Every one of these kids has just great potential, and we should be investing in them," Smith said. "Giving all Ohio public school kids a free, healthy, nutritious breakfast and lunch is going to help - it's going to put money back in mom and dad's pockets."

Free school meals became widespread during COVID-19

Household food insecurity affected 17.9% of U.S. households with children in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Also in 2023, 7.2 million children lived in households where children and adults were food insecure.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a March 2020 federal waiver allowed all schools to offer free meals to students regardless of income.

Nick Bates, director of Hunger Network in Ohio, a faith-based network of advocates, said universal school meals during the pandemic "helped kids have a sense of stability during a chaotic time. It helped kids be more focused in class, and it improved the classroom dynamic for kids to be able to learn."

Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, also said he felt the program had great results.

"I think we did have some reversion when students who had been given access to school meals no longer had that," he said. "I think there are concerns that then we're back to where we were before, where you had more kids who were showing up to school hungry and therefore not able to focus as much on their learning."

Many states extended the program after the COVID-19 waiver was rescinded in 2022. Today, eight have implemented free and healthy school meal programs, and there are active campaigns to do so in 13 states.

In the last Ohio general assembly, eligibility for reduced-price meals was increased up to 185% of the federal poverty level, which made more students qualify.

During the summer of 2024, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer was implemented through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to give families $120 per student to buy groceries during the summer. The program is still ongoing, although the Trump administration continues to cut funding to federal programs.

"Sometimes things are done in steps, but as long as we are constantly striving to answer that question, 'how can we make sure everybody is fed?' - that is the direction we need to be going in," Bates said.

Free meals easier for students and administrators, advocates say

Some districts, like Akron Public Schools, operate under the Community Eligibility Provision, a U.S. Department of Agriculture free meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas.

Laura Kepler, coordinator of child nutrition for Akron Public Schools and a registered dietitian, said her district's free meals program has been in place since 2012.

"No student needs to worry about a forgotten packed lunch or not having money for lunch," Kepler said. "It's accessible to all students equally, so there's no discrimination of students that would not anyway be required to pay for lunch."

She said it removes administrative burdens as well, like having to collect meal applications and income information annually.

With a quick process because students don't have to fumble with money, she said it also leads to "less stress, especially, as you know, in the middle school and high schools, where people become aware of who has money and maybe who doesn't, or different poverty statuses."

DiMauro said the bill would remove social issues students may face around mealtimes.

"One of the things that this does is it takes away the stigma that is often attached with being labeled as someone who's eligible for free or reduced price meals," he said. "[It] just makes it a whole lot easier for schools to administer school meal programs."

He said that because students spend more of their waking time in school than anywhere else, other than home, this bill is important to meet their needs.

Bates said when students are fed, they're more likely to focus.

"When you walk into one of these committee hearing rooms and look at all the legislators around 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, and they haven't had their lunch yet, you start to see their eyes drooping and their focus begins to sway away from the testimony in front of them," he said. "It's the same with our kids ... kids, if they're hungry, aren't focused on the material in front of them."

Implementation depends on budget concerns

Smith said he has been doing whatever he can to find bipartisan approaches to this goal. The bill's co-sponsor is Republican Sen. Louis Blessing (R-Colerain Township), who was not available for comment.

There are federal dollars available to pay for some of these meals, Smith said, and state money would cover the rest of the cost. But, he said there are concerns about whether the bill will end up in the state's budget.

DiMauro said he feels the bill requires a relatively modest ask compared to some of the other proposed budget items.

"The legislature right now is considering providing a $600 million-plus subsidy for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium - this is half that cost," he said.

For families, struggling to manage the costs of paying for school lunches, electric bills, rent and extra emergencies is "kind of a house of cards," Bates said. He likened free meals to school buses, which make school days easier for parents and kids alike.

"We often will fund school transportation because we recognize that school buses need to be fueled up to be able to get kids from their home to their school building," he said. "It should also be a necessity that kids are fueled up and they are ready to learn as well."

DiMauro said the bill, by itself, wouldn't solve all problems. He suggested combining universal school meals with after-school, summer and weekend programming where students can take meals home with them.

"Every one of those pieces is an essential part of the puzzle," he said. "So it doesn't solve the entire issue of childhood hunger by itself, but it goes a long way."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.