It’s currently up to the state to offer universal free meals, or the school must qualify under federal guidelines.
Last year, Ohio expanded access to free meals by allowing most students with Medicaid coverage to automatically qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. Though not all recipients automatically qualify, the policy expanded access to multiple new families.
Several districts made specific changes to their policies so more students would be eligible to eat free at school or more likely to eat free meals at school.
Mad River
Mad River Schools is offering universal free breakfast and lunch thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the free school lunch program.
Mad River treasurer Jerry Ellender said the district applied through the Ohio Department of Education Office of Nutrition for the grant. The district submits monthly meal reimbursement requests through the department’s website and is reimbursed based on the number of meals that are served.
The district is approved for four years before they need to reapply, Ellender said.
Beavercreek
Beavercreek schools saw an increase in the number of students using the free meal program due to expanded qualifications, and now breakfast is served in all district schools for the first time this school year.
Schools are required to implement a breakfast program in any school building where the population of identified free lunch students exceeds 20%. Last year, when the state expanded Medicaid eligibility for free and reduced meals, the district had six buildings that were above the 20% threshold and another three that were within 1.6% of the 20% threshold.
“Given that we are close to or above the requirement in 9 out of 10 buildings, we decided to roll out the breakfast program district-wide,” said Beth Sizemore, spokeswoman for Beavercreek schools.
Dayton
Dayton Public, which has had universal free breakfast and lunch for several years, rolled out a revised menu this school year after multiple students requested changes.
Last year, the district added more fresh items to the menu, like fruit and salad bars, and a condiment bar with low-sodium options.
School board members said they had heard good things about the new menu both from their kids and kids in the community.
“We have received very positive feedback from the students and staff,” said Amber Whitmyer, associate director of Dayton Public’s Nutrition Services Department.
But she said the district will be rolling out more changes in stages, so staff are not overwhelmed.
“We want to keep the students excited and engaged in school meals,” she said.
Expanded access
Several districts said most of the expanded access to kids happened last year, when the state changed its rules.
Scott Marshall, spokesman for Springboro Schools, said his district’s free and reduced percentage went up 5% last year. This year, 15% of kids have qualified so far, in line with the 14% of kids who qualified last school year.
Marshall said the district added free breakfast at Dennis Elementary and hopes to eventually roll that out to all the buildings.
Most of Centerville schools have a free breakfast program, said Olivia Stone, Centerville’s Student Nutrition Services supervisor. Stone said the percentage of students eligible in Centerville schools for free and reduced lunch went up last year, and that is continuing this year.
“We always strive to provide all of our students with ample meal choices each day,” Stone said. “We try to serve all of our students and are continuing to provide choices to our students so they can feel empowered while eating with us at school.”
Lebanon schools have also seen an increase in the number of kids qualifying for free and reduced lunch, said Megan Grippa, the district’s Food Service Coordinator.
Huber Heights nutrition services supervisor Kasey Wonderly said the district is on track to have the highest number of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch in years.
“Over the last few years, we have made adjustments to our menus to be more inclusive and respectful of the diverse cultures across the district,” Wonderly said. “We plan on extending this effort this year to include even more options.”
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