Bill Signed To Keep School Meals Free For 800,000 New York Students
Senator Charles Schumer says his bi-partisan Keep Kids Fed Act has been signed into law.
The bill extends child nutrition waivers that give essential funding to schools, day cares, not-profits, and other meal providers, enabling them to continue providing free meals to students this summer.
Schumer says the law will keep meals free for over 300,000 New York students.
He says Congress originally authorized the child nutrition waivers at the height of the COVID pandemic to give school food programs the flexibility needed to feed as many students as possible, but the waivers were set to expire on June 30.
“No child should ever go hungry, and now schools will have the funding and flexibility needed to ensure kids stay healthy and fed this summer. Over 800,000 New York students and millions of children across the country depend on these waivers for daily meals, and this bill gives our schools the support they need to continue to provide free nutritious meals and the flexibility they need to operate amidst the ongoing supply chain challenges,” said Senator Schumer.
Schumer says the Keep Kids Fed Act will:
- Extend flexibilities for summer meals in 2022 which will make it easier to feed all students, especially students in rural areas, during the summer months through options like meal delivery and grab-and-go.
- Increase the reimbursement rate for school lunch and school breakfast to help offset the increased cost of food and operating expenses. Schools will receive an additional 40 cents for each lunch and 15 cents for each breakfast served.
- Help daycares and home providers in the Child and Adult Care Food Program offset increased costs by providing an additional 10 cents per meal or snack.
- Extend some of the administrative and paperwork flexibilities for schools through the 2022-23 school year to help schools streamline their meal operations and operate amidst supply chain disruptions.