Dive Brief:
- Under Maryland's Hunger Free Schools Act of 2015, every Baltimore public school student will recieve free meals.
- The bill gives free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of their personal socio-economic status, in schools where at least 40% of the student population is considered low-income.
- According to Baltimore public school data, 84% of the district's students qualified for free or reduced lunch last year.
Dive Insight:
This year, about 13,000 students paid $3 a day for lunch. Under this new plan, everyone gets their meals for free. The plan is viewed as a great "equalizer," as it gives everyone the same access to meals, which in turn can help improve focus and concentration in the classroom. The program also eliminates the "free lunch eligible" identifier from students, placing it instead on the school as "community eligibility." This takes away any stigma for students and also makes for a smoother process for homeless students or students from unstable homes, who may struggle to turn in the proper free lunch paper work.