Meals
In effect
Tomorrow morning · August 2026The lunch line
School meal eligibility after the 2025 reconciliation law · P.L. 119: nutrition & CEP interaction
Fewer schools can automatically feed every child for free. More families will be asked to fill out paperwork, and some children who ate without a form last year will not this year.
What changed
- Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) pathways were tightened, so fewer schools can serve free meals to every student without applications.
- Families in schools that lose CEP will need to return income forms; incomplete paperwork can mean a child loses a free tray.
- Analyses from education and anti-hunger groups estimate higher grocery costs for families who must now pay, often around two thousand dollars a year for two children.
Who it touches
Any child in a school that used or hoped to use community eligibility, especially in districts with mixed-income enrollment.
What it does not do
- It does not cancel the National School Lunch Program.
- It does not mean every child who ate free last year will pay this year. That depends on the school’s new status and the family’s forms.
Say this tonight
Some schools used to feed every kid without a form. A new rule makes that harder, so our cafeteria might ask us for paperwork. The form is not a test. It is how the school knows who still gets a free tray.
Ask your school nutrition office, in writing, whether the building is still on community eligibility this year. Save the reply.