U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Angus King (I-Maine) introduced legislation last week that would prevent School Food Authorities (SFAs) from being forced to raise meal prices when a school's program is financially solvent.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act requires schools to ensure they have sufficient funds for meals served to students not eligible for free or reduced-price meals, often by raising prices. The School Lunch Price Protection Act would make this “paid-lunch equity” mandate applicable only to schools that have a negative balance in their child-nutrition account from the previous school year.
“School districts have seen a decline in full-price lunch participation and many attribute this to some families no longer being able to afford to pay the rising costs,” Inhofe said in a statement. “For those families that already find themselves under financial strain, raising prices could potentially mean the difference between their children getting a healthy meal that day or going without. Our legislation keeps Washington from forcing our schools to raise lunch prices when there is no need to and returns this important decision-making power back to state and local school districts.”