We're losing kids on free lunch

 Hey, remember how we've noted that as we lose SNAP enrollment, we're going to lose free lunch enrollment?

That has now started to be seen happening, per EdWeek

In addition to Miami-Dade, some schools in nearby Palm Beach County, Fla., Houston, the San Antonio area, and Hardin County, Ky., have also announced the end of universal free meals in recent months because they no longer qualify for CEP.

Hysom anticipates more districts will follow suit.

Schools use data about students’ food assistance enrollment as of April 1 to determine if they are is eligible for CEP for the next school year, if they are not already participating, Hysom said. If the school is eligible, leaders decide whether to adopt CEP for the next four years. At the end of the four-year cycle, the school uses the most recent April 1 data to determine if it still qualifies, and school leaders decide if they want to commit for another four years.

The schools dropping CEP now, Hysom said, are among the first to come up for recertification since SNAP cuts took effect.

This matters for two additional reasons in Massachusetts:

1. The state has now mandated universal free meals for all students in all public schools in Massachusetts. As districts lose Community Eligibility for free meals, the amount of reimbursement being carried by the federal government is going to drop.
    I don't know to what degree the state can run numbers on this, if they can estimate how many kids and where are going to drop off and what hit that will make on district eligibility, but I am very concerned as to if this is on the radar of anyone.
   If it isn't, by the way, districts are required to provide the meals, anyway. State reimbursement is subject to appropriation.
   
   
2. As I noted last May, SNAP is part of how Massachusetts determines how many students are low income, which in turn becomes part of the calculation of the foundation budget, and thus state aid for education.
   I would argue, by the way, that we cannot wait for the report of the new Foundation Budget Review Commission (due October 2028) for this.