School lunches should not be free.

 

The purpose of my bill is to ensure that school lunches are no longer free to kids who don't need them, so that folks

will not have to pay higher taxes within their districts.

 

Many districts that give out free school lunches have older people who don't have kids, or they once had kids who are

now out of the district and all grown up and there are some younger people who don't have kids yet, or they are too

young to be in school. No matter their situation, they currently pay higher taxes because of kids they don't know who

are getting the school’s free lunch. Some younger people without kids may not be able to pay all their taxes, and if

schools stopped giving out free lunches, these individuals would not have to worry about that cost. We should stop

giving out free lunches because we could use that money for much better things, such as updating technologies, expanding

extracurriculars, or even providing better help for students through tutors and teachers. According to the School

Nutrition Association, the average school lunch costs about $2.46. There are around 180 days of school a year. That

would be about $442.80 to have one child eat lunch every day for the whole school year. If some families are unable to

pay that much for their kids to eat, many districts will set aside donations and they may also have alternative cheaper

meals, or “write off balances”. According to education.mn.gov. It says that families of four who earn over $54,550 per

year are no longer eligible for free school lunches. This proposal would not eliminate support for low-income families;

instead, schools would continue to leverage donations and offer cheaper meal plans for families with financial

hardships.

 

A write-off balance is when someone owes money to a district, but the school is no longer actively trying to collect it.

 

The funding for the kids who still need free lunches will come from donations made to the school, or it will come from

State Aid. State Aid will cover the difference between the federal reimbursement rate and the actual cost of the meal

for eligible students.

 

If you are unable to pay for the whole meal and haven't set something up with your school district, you will either go

into debt within your school, which you will later have to pay off. Or you will be offered a less expensive alternative

meal.

 

The effective date for this bill would be the start of the 2026-2027 school year.