One Midlands district provides all students with free lunch. Should others follow suit?
One in seven children face hunger in South Carolina — a rate that is higher than the national average, according to Feeding America.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Carolina districts offered free lunch to all students when schools closed. The program was extended through the 2021-22 school year with the help of federal dollars. After Congress reinstated income requirements earlier this year, that ended.
But the Richland 1 School District has been offering free lunch for years.
“We’ve always known we’ve had a need,” said Tracy Dixon, Richland 1’s nutrition services director. “It leveled the playing field for students.”
In 2015, the district qualified for Community Eligibility Provision, a meal service provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to low-income areas.
Regardless of family income, Richland 1 students can receive breakfast and lunch at no cost. They also have access to free snacks and supper if they stay after school.
Dixon said receiving meals throughout the day helps students remain focused and makes them more successful.
The program eliminated the application process for free lunches, which was a kind of obstacle — Dixon said some families didn’t apply even when they were eligible. Students would often incur lunch debt as a result.
In South Carolina, more than 40,000 carry school lunch debt, averaging $168.52 per child, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Instead of some Richland 1 students having similar debts, Dixon said, the district is reimbursed for every meal. This helps the district financially and lends itself to investing more money in other needs.
Receiving a free lunch previously held a kind of social stigma, Dixon said. It was associated with poverty. But implementing free lunches for everyone freed students from those concerns.
Parents don’t have to worry about their kids being hungry, Dixon said. They don’t have to choose between feeding their children or paying a bill.
A family of four in other districts, for example, must make under $51,338 before taxes to qualify for the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program.
About 64% of students in South Carolina, according to the Department of Education, were eligible for free or reduced lunch in October — almost half a million students.
That may change.
A bill filed by State Sen. Katrina Shealy ahead of the 2023 legislative session proposes free lunch for every South Carolina student from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“Kids learn better if they’re not hungry,” Shealy, R-Lexington, previously told The State. “Teachers teach better if the kids aren’t hungry.”
Research shows that hungry students often score lower on standardized tests and are more likely to get suspended from school. They are also more likely to get sick.
Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters in December that statewide free school lunches would be expensive, though something he’d like to learn more about.
The State contacted the South Carolina Department of Education for the estimated cost of free school lunches.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 2:20 PM.
