Thousands more TN students would eat free in school under new bill

A bill moving through the statehouse would expand free school meals to thousands more Tennessee students.

Under the measure, students who qualify for reduced-price meals now would eat for free — with the state covering the small amount, 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch, that their families currently pay.

The legislation is now on hold until the House passes a new budget. In March, the bill passed out of the House education committee unanimously, with bipartisan support. 

During that committee meeting, the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Wilson, recounted a time when her family struggled with school lunch debt.

“My daughter called me one day,” Lynn said. “She said, ‘Mom, Julie owes $30 on the school lunch program and if I don’t pay it, she can’t get lunch.’”

Lynn told lawmakers that she paid the debt but stressed that some have no one to call.

Costs and benefits

The measure focuses on some of Tennessee’s most disadvantaged children. To qualify for reduced-price meals, a student’s household income must be between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level.

Federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture covers most of the costs for these meals, and bakers of the bill want the state to handle the rest. Total costs vary by county in Tennessee with a price range of about $2.00 to $3.75 per meal.

Signe Anderson, the Tennessee Justice Center’s senior director of nutrition advocacy, told WPLN that the bill’s benefits outweigh its $2 million price tag. She and other advocates say that hungry kids have a hard time learning and providing meals for students has been linked to better attendance, higher graduation rates, improved test scores and happier children.

Forty-cents per meal may not sound like much, but Lynn, who worked with Anderson on this legislation, told WPLN that it can be a strain on families struggling to make ends meet. This relatability, she said, is one reason why the bill has bipartisan support. 

Stepping stone to free meals for all

Both Anderson and Lynn hope that this is a stepping stone to bringing universal school meals to Tennessee. This would allow all students to get free meals, regardless of their household income. Advocates for the policy say it eliminates the stigma and administrative burden associated with traditional income-based programs.

Lisa Quigley, director of Solving Hunger, insists that the stigma and shame stays with children long after their schooldays are over:

“I remember being a fourth grader and standing in line with my red ticket and then looking at the other line where the kids had the green tickets. And, I realized at that moment sort of what that meant,” she told WPLN News. “I remember feeling shame for knowing that my friends couldn’t pay. It’s something that sticks with you and it’s so unnecessary.”

Efforts to bring a universal school meal program to Tennessee have failed in the past.

Proposed federal funding cuts

The bill is being debated at a time when Republican lawmakers are proposing federal funding cuts to free school meals.

One proposal would modify the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high poverty schools to offer their students free meals without collecting household applications. The modification would substantially increase the required share of low-income students enrolled in a school for all students to get free meals. Its implementation would impact hundreds of thousands of Tennessee students.

Quigley said that this proposal would be detrimental to schoolchildren and hopes that if it does come to fruition, Tennessee leadership steps up to fill the void.

“I still hold out hope that taking food out of the mouths of children will be among the last things that they will do,” she told WPLN. “If the worst happens, what I would hope is that Tennessee legislators would look to protect the most vulnerable, which starts with children.”