Latest news with #CommunityEligibilityProgram
Axios
28-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Florida's school districts cite funding cuts for meal option changes
State and federal budget cuts — plus the end of pandemic-era relief funds — are changing how school districts across Florida are feeding public school students. Why it matters: Research has long suggested that free meals in schools increase positive outcomes for students. Doing away with programs that support universal free lunches could negatively impact the millions of Florida's public school students who rely on them. Depending on the district, some families will have to pay for lunch for the first time in years. By the numbers: More than 50% of Florida's public school students last year received free or reduced meals while at school, according to the Florida Department of Health. In Miami-Dade, more than 78,600 students, or more than 55%, were eligible. In the Tampa Bay region, there were more than 72,700 students. More than 50% of students qualified in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, per the state. The latest: In recent weeks, school districts across Florida have announced they are no longer offering free lunches for all students in the 2025-26 school year and are returning to a previously used application process. Other districts have raised the cost of lunches for students. Case in point: In Broward County, officials in a news release said the district will no longer offer free lunches for all students in the 2025-26 school year, citing "changes in program funding." It's also increasing lunch prices by $1. Duval County Public Schools said it was doing away with free universal lunches for 37 schools, reported News4Jax. Pasco County schools announced it was increasing prices for elementary and middle school lunches by 15 cents and high school prices by 20 cents, WUSF reported. A spokesperson for Hillsborough County schools told WUSF it was not raising lunch prices. How it works: Federal funding is available to schools that qualify for the Community Eligibility Program, which provides free lunches for all students at schools if 40% or more students qualify for free or reduced meals. In recent years, districts have provided free lunches in schools that don't meet the CEP criteria, but budget cuts and the end of stimulus funds have made those alternatives harder to sustain. Miami-Dade County schools still qualify for CEP and will continue offering universal free lunches for the 2025-26 year, but officials told Axios they "are evaluating all options for future years." State of play: Both the Broward and Duval districts had used excess federal relief dollars to offer free lunches for all students at schools that no longer qualified for CEP. Those programs, officials said, can't be supported without the additional federal dollars. In Broward County, free school lunches cost about $9 million annually, according to the Miami Herald. Yes, but: That doesn't mean free meals won't be available. Beginning July 14, families who qualify can apply for their student to receive free or reduced lunches, officials said. And all students can still receive free breakfasts through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Universal Free Breakfast Program.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Broward school district to end universal free lunches, raise lunch prices
Broward County Public Schools will no longer offer free lunch to all students this upcoming school year. At Tuesday's meeting, the school board was informed that the surplus of federal funds that had been used to offer free lunch throughout the district for the past school year was finally depleted. For some Broward students, next school year will be the first time in several years that they will have to pay for lunch. In response to the pandemic, the federal government provided waivers for schools to offer universal free lunch, which expired in 2022. Some Broward schools continued to provide free lunches through the Community Eligibility Program, a nationally funded program for schools where 40% of the student population qualified for free or reduced meals, the Sun Sentinel reported in 2023. Dozens of Broward schools did not qualify for CEP, so for the 2023-2024 school year, the Food and Nutrition Services department applied for a federal U.S. Department of Agriculture pilot program to provide the remaining schools with free lunch. Broward's universal free lunch continued into the current school year. Mary Mulder, the Food and Nutrition Services executive director, told the school board at Tuesday's meeting that the department had continued with the free lunch program in order to deplete a surplus of funds 'from the COVID years.' Federal rules from the USDA limit the amount of funds the district's nutrition program can have on hand. It costs about $9 million to provide free school lunch each year. Hepburn explained that over the past few years, the district 'utilized the strategy of feeding all students to deplete [the fund balance] back to the levels that are appropriate based on the federal government.' Not only will universal free lunch end for the next school year, the price of lunch will also increase by $1. School board members voted to increase school lunch prices during Tuesday's meeting. Each meal is now $3 for elementary schools, $3.35 for middle schools and $3.50 for high schools. According to a school district memo, lunch prices have not increased in 12 years. Food and Nutrition Services runs a self-operating budget within the school district and does not receive money from the district's general fund. The cost of food, equipment, supplies and labor has increased, Mulder said. Parents will be able to fill out paperwork to apply for free or reduced price lunch starting July 14 at Breakfast will remain free for all students. 'It's so vitally important that we have these robust conversations now so there's no confusion as far as parents that need to fill out the paperwork,' said school board member Lori Alhadeff. School board member Rebecca Thompson showed interest in expanding free universal lunch and encouraged the board to discuss it further. School board members said they would discuss the idea in a future workshop. 'The economic situation of our state is not going to get any better and if there is a way that we can explore this and help families then we should do that,' Thompson said.
Miami Herald
14-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Broward school district to end universal free lunches, raise lunch prices
Broward County Public Schools will no longer offer free lunch to all students this upcoming school year. At Tuesday's meeting, the school board was informed that the surplus of federal funds that had been used to offer free lunch throughout the district for the past school year was finally depleted. For some Broward students, next school year will be the first time in several years that they will have to pay for lunch. In response to the pandemic, the federal government provided waivers for schools to offer universal free lunch, which expired in 2022. Some Broward schools continued to provide free lunches through the Community Eligibility Program, a nationally funded program for schools where 40% of the student population qualified for free or reduced meals, the Sun Sentinel reported in 2023. Dozens of Broward schools did not qualify for CEP, so for the 2023-2024 school year, the Food and Nutrition Services department applied for a federal U.S. Department of Agriculture pilot program to provide the remaining schools with free lunch. Broward's universal free lunch continued into the current school year. Mary Mulder, the Food and Nutrition Services executive director, told the school board at Tuesday's meeting that the department had continued with the free lunch program in order to deplete a surplus of funds 'from the COVID years.' Federal rules from the USDA limit the amount of funds the district's nutrition program can have on hand. It costs about $9 million to provide free school lunch each year. Hepburn explained that over the past few years, the district 'utilized the strategy of feeding all students to deplete [the fund balance] back to the levels that are appropriate based on the federal government.' Not only will universal free lunch end for the next school year, the price of lunch will also increase by $1. School board members voted to increase school lunch prices during Tuesday's meeting. Each meal is now $3 for elementary schools, $3.35 for middle schools and $3.50 for high schools. According to a school district memo, lunch prices have not increased in 12 years. Food and Nutrition Services runs a self-operating budget within the school district and does not receive money from the district's general fund. The cost of food, equipment, supplies and labor has increased, Mulder said. Parents will be able to fill out paperwork to apply for free or reduced price lunch starting July 14 at Breakfast will remain free for all students. 'It's so vitally important that we have these robust conversations now so there's no confusion as far as parents that need to fill out the paperwork,' said school board member Lori Alhadeff. School board member Rebecca Thompson showed interest in expanding free universal lunch and encouraged the board to discuss it further. School board members said they would discuss the idea in a future workshop. 'The economic situation of our state is not going to get any better and if there is a way that we can explore this and help families then we should do that,' Thompson said.
Chicago Tribune
22-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
East Aurora renews food service contracts for next school year
On Monday, the East Aurora School District 131 school board approved the renewal of the district's food service provider contracts for next year. The district uses Whitsons Nutrition, a food service management company based in Islandia, New York, to provide meals for all of its elementary schools and for Cowherd Middle School, according to Monday's meeting agenda. They use Sodexo America in North Bethesda, Maryland, to provide meals for the district's middle schools as well as East Aurora High School. This is the first renewal of five one-year agreements the district has entered into with the providers, the district's Chief Financial Officer Michael Engel said at Monday's meeting. All meal prices will be raised by 3%, according to the contract renewal agreements with the two providers. Per a memo from Engel to the district superintendent, increases may not exceed the Consumer Price Index-Food Away from Home rate, which is currently 3.6%. For example, Whitsons' price for breakfast will increase from $2.42 to $2.49, and lunch will increase from approximately $4 to $4.11, according to the contract. For Sodexo, breakfast will increase from approximately $2.20 to $2.27, and lunch will go from roughly $4.22 to $4.34, as outlined in the contract approved Monday. The contracts were approved unanimously at the meeting, with board member Bruce Schubert absent. District Superintendent Robert Halverson was also absent Monday. East Aurora participates in the Community Eligibility Program, according to the district website, a meal-pricing option that's part of the National School Lunch program. The program allows school districts with high poverty levels to serve breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting household applications, according to the USDA. After paying for the meals, the district is '100% reimbursed by the USDA, by the federal government, for (the) breakfast, lunch, supper and snack program throughout the district,' according to Engel. The reimbursement rates for the next fiscal year have not yet been released, according to Engel's memo, but the reimbursement rate this past school year for districts with high need was $4.54 for lunch and $2.84 for breakfast, according to the Illinois State Board of Education — meaning next year's rates for both food service companies fall below those rates. Both contracts note, however, that prices must be quoted 'as if no USDA commodities will be received.' And, with the possibility of funding cuts to schools by President Donald Trump's administration, the future of some federal funding remains uncertain. For example, in March, the United States Department of Agriculture said it was ending two pandemic-era programs that provided over $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers. The Local Food for Schools program represented more than half of that money. The Illinois State Board of Education had signed an agreement in January to continue the Local Food for Schools program, but is now set to lose that funding after Jan. 31, 2026, the state board said in March. Later in March, Trump signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Department of Education. But, while the extent to which possible Trump administration cuts to USDA funding for school meals or the Department of Education comes to bear on East Aurora and other school districts remains to be seen, District 131 said they do not anticipate any interruptions to school meal funding for the 2025-26 year, a district spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday. 'There has been some governmental, kind of, changes within (the USDA commodities), that they're sometimes on the table, off the table, but for next year, we're still going forward,' Engel said at Monday's meeting. 'I can't guess or foresee what the U.S. government's going to do in fiscal year (2027) coming up after that, but as of right now we are planning to use the USDA commodities going forward.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump's approval ratings: See the latest national and NY polls
As President Donald Trump approaches the first 90-day benchmark of his second term, most of his approval ratings have dipped slightly below his unfavorable ratings. Here's what the recent polls show. Here are the latest approval ratings released for Trump's administration: Morning Consult Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Morning Consult poll (April 14, 2025): Favorable: 45% Unfavorable: 52% Unsure: 3% Rasmussen Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Rasmussen poll (April 16, 2025): Favorable: 50% Unfavorable: 48% Unsure: 2% Cygnal Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Cygnal poll (April 9, 2025): Favorable: 47% Unfavorable: 52% Unsure: 1% Quinnipac University Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Quinnipac University poll (April 9, 2025): Favorable: 41% Unfavorable: 53% Unsure: 6% The Economist Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest from The Economist (April 16, 2025): Favorable: 42% Unfavorable: 52% Unsure: 6% Navigator Research Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Navigator Research poll (April 8, 2025): Favorable: 44% Unfavorable: 53% Unsure: 3% Reuters / Ipsos Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Reuters / Ipsos polls (March 31-April 2, 2025): Favorable: 43% Unfavorable: 53% Unsure: 4% Fox News Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Fox News polls (March 14-17, 2025): Favorable: 49% Unfavorable: 51% Gallup Most recent Trump approval rating, according to the latest Gallup polls (March 3-16, 2025): Favorable: 43% Unfavorable: 53% Unsure: 4% Civiqs polls, last updated on April 15, says the president has a 36% favorability among New Yorkers. A 61% unfavorability counters this and 3% of New Yorkers are unsure. As a result of recent proposed funding cuts, New York state could see a loss of around 16 million pounds of USDA foods in 2025 due to the Trump administration's funding cuts to the USDA's Emergency Food Assistance Program, according to Feeding New York State. And over 900,000 children in New York could lose access to free school meals if a proposal to tighten school meal program funding, which would endanger the USDA's Community Eligibility Program (CEP), is passed by Congress, according to a recently released study by the Food Research & Action Center and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Potential Medicaid cuts being considered by Republicans in Congress could also cut off health insurance to about 2.2 million New Yorkers, according to a worst-case scenario in a recently released Joint Economic Committee report created by Democrats. Medicaid cuts: Who would be impacted most in NY? What we know (and don't know) so far A president's approval rating reflects the percentage of Americans polled who approve of the president's performance. Anything can impact a president's rating, such as legislation passed, actions and elections. According to ABC News, an approval rating doesn't just represent how well the administration is faring for the general public but could factor into the outcome of an upcoming election or how much they accomplish while in office. Presidential approval ratings were first conducted by the founder of the American Institute of Public Opinion, George Gallup, around 1935 to gauge public support for the president of the United States during their term. While Gallup has tracked presidential approval for 70 years, other organizations also conduct and release their own polls. Among them, Ipsos and Morning Consult. Contributing: USA TODAY Network. Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network's New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on X and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@ This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Donald Trump approval ratings: See the latest national and NY polls
