re: #470 Backwoods_Sleuth

[“Lunch Shaming”]

There are districts in which there were so many who qualified, they made it free for all the kids.

Starting this fall [2014], automatic free breakfast and lunch will be provided to all students at lower income schools.

That means parents don’t have to fill out meal applications.

“It makes it definitely easier for parents, it relieves any anxiety a parent might have over filling out that application and putting their financial information on there,” said Swift.

It’s called the Community Eligibility Provision.

School districts will use information from assistance programs like SNAP to qualify for federal funding to pay for meals.

“It qualifies basically the whole school to get meals at no cost,” said Swift.

It’s going to have a big impact on New Mexico.

For example, right now 48 Albuquerque public schools get free meals through a similar program. But, the new approach will add another 23 schools to that list.