16-05-2025
Broward school meals: Families' next steps as universal free lunches will come to an end
Broward County Public Schools on Friday offered students' families some lunch-preparation updates for the upcoming school year, as the district transitions to no longer offering universal free lunches.
For the 2025-26 school year, lunch prices will rise by $1 for paying students: $3.50 for lunch in high school, $3.35 in middle school and $3 in elementary school.
But those costs wouldn't pertain to certain eligible students. In a news release Friday, the district provided additional steps that families can take.
Broward schools on July 14 will begin 'accepting Meal Benefits Applications' at to determine families' eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunches. The application is available throughout the school year at For those eligible, each reduced-price lunch is 40 cents, the district said.
Broward school district to end universal free lunches, raise lunch prices
The application process marks a transition back to the steps in place before the district began offering free lunches to all students during the past two years, bolstered by program funding. For the past two years, Broward Schools' Food and Nutrition Services Department assisted families with the cost of meals through two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, as well as Food and Nutrition Services funds, the district said in a news release.
For the upcoming school year, 'free and reduced-price lunches will be offered based on eligibility, requiring families to complete an application,' it said.
The district said automatically certified to receive free lunches are students who either:
— Receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. — Have Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits. — Are 'enrolled in Head Start, Foster, Homeless, or Migrant.'
Families should create an account for each student through My School Bucks at starting July 28, to buy meals and a la carte items, the district said.
All students will keep receiving free breakfasts through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Universal Free Breakfast Program, the district said.
