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Following similar programs in five cities, a D.C. councilmember introduced a bill on Tuesday that would allow all students in public and charter schools to receive free lunches in order to save money for parents and embarrassment for some students.
Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd’s “Universal Free Lunch for All Amendment Act of 2017” would make lunch free to students at all public schools and charter schools, as well as private schools in D.C. that choose to participate, according to a release.
The bill was co-sponsored by Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray, Ward 8 Councilmbmer Trayon White, and At-Large Councilmembers Elissa Silverman and Robert White.
Seventy-six percent of D.C. public school students qualify for the Department of Agriculture’s free and reduced meals program, DCPS spokesperson Janae Hinson told DCist. And 77 percent of students in charter schools qualify for the program, according to D.C. Public Charter School Board spokesperson Tomeika Bowden.
Parents who pay for school meals spend about $50 a month per student, Todd said, adding that the bill would “put more money in the pockets of D.C. parents, regardless of zip code, or socio-economic status.” It is unclear how much such a program would cost the city.
The bill comes as stories of “lunch shaming” make national headlines. Across the country, school officials have reportedly thrown away students’ lunches in front of their peers, stamped students’ hands, and offered them less expensive lunches or nothing at all, in order to get parents to pay their outstanding bills. In response, the Department of Agriculture instructed school districts to create new policies for the 2017-2018 school year on how to treat students who have lunch debt.
“No child deserves to go hungry or be humiliated in front of their peers because they are unable to afford lunch,” Todd said. “As the District continues to invest in world-class educational facilities, instructors, and programs, we must make this critical investment to ensure all District students have equal access to healthy food at school.”
After drama with its previous food supplier, D.C. Public Schools selected two vendors in May 2016 to prepare meals at more than 100 schools during the 2016-2017 academic year. Five months later, the D.C. Auditor recommended DCPS bring back its in-house meal operations instead of using a contractor after a report found that the system’s meal costs per student were notably higher than other comparable school districts.
Todd’s bill follows an announcement earlier this month by New York City Public Schools chancellor Carmen Fariña that school lunch will be available to the system’s 1.1 million students beginning this school year.
“This is about equity,” Fariña said, during her announcement. “All communities matter.”
Other major cities including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Dallas offer free school lunches to students as well.
Todd also introduced on Tuesday a legislation to reinstate D.C.’s back-to-school sales tax holiday, which was axed due to budget constraints in 2009. Since then, parents have flocked to Maryland and Virginia for such deals.
