Study: Ohio school breakfast, lunch participation decreases as pandemic waivers lapse

A national study showed the number of students participating in free or reduced breakfast and lunch decreased in the 2022-2023 school year compared to the year before.

Research from the Food Research & Action Center showed the lapse in pandemic-era waivers for the cost of school meals had a negative impact on participation in meal programs across the country.

“While the healthy breakfasts and lunches served at school remained an important support for millions of families in every state, the expiration of key nationwide waivers also meant that many of the same challenges that faced both families and school nutrition departments prior to the pandemic began to reemerge,” the FRAC report stated.

In Ohio, average breakfast participation dropped 22.2% between the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, and lunch dropped by 14%, according to data included in the FRAC report.

Nationwide, school breakfast participation decreased by more than 1 million children, which is about 7.7% of the national student population. School lunch participation saw a drop of nearly 1.8 million children, or 6% of students.

“The gap between school breakfast and lunch participation grew in the 2022-2023 school year compared to the previous year,” the study found.

More than 3,200 Ohio schools participate in the federal School Breakfast Program, and more than 3,500 schools take part in the National School Lunch Program. Those numbers only saw marginal changes between the two school years studied by FRAC.

In the 2021-22 school year, 100% of Ohio students had access to a free breakfast. Researchers said a “vast majority” of breakfasts during that school year were served through the Seamless Summer Option, which is a meal program served during “summer breaks, extended breaks for year-round schools and unanticipated school closures.” Pandemic-related child nutrition waivers enabled that program to bring breakfast to students at no charge.

In the 2022-23 school year, only 69.7% of students received a free breakfast, 4.7% received a reduced-price breakfast, and 25.6% paid full-price for a before-school meal.

The 2021-22 school year saw 99.8% free lunches for students, whereas the 2022-23 school year saw that number drop to 54.4%.

The state served 20 million less lunches overall in the 2022-23 school year than the previous year, according to the data.

“The return to normal school meal operations, and its impact on participation, highlight the need for policymakers, advocates and schools to bolster efforts and recommit to ensuring that school breakfasts and school lunch are accessible to every child every school day,” researchers concluded.

The study also pointed to the benefits of pandemic-era waivers in reducing stigma connected to income-based breakfast and lunch programs in which students can be identified by other students and school staff.

While legislators put $4 million in the latest state budget to allow all students eligible for reduced-price breakfast and lunch to receive the meals at no cost in the 2023-2024 school year, stigma and categorization of those students still worries advocates.

The programs have public support, with a 2022 survey by the Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio and Baldwin Wallace University’s Community Research Institute showing 87% support for no-cost meals for all students, without regard to household income.

The introduction of a new summer meal benefit could help at a time when Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio estimates nearly 1 million kids are limited in access to meals.

The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program can benefit those eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school, but only if they apply for the new program. The benefit would will be available for more than 830,000 Ohio children, those with household income up to 185% of the federal poverty line.