Utah families who currently pay reduced prices for school meals will soon get them for free after Gov. Spencer Cox approved a bill Tuesday that eliminates reduced-cost lunches.
An additional 40,000 students in kindergarten through sixth grade who currently pay reduced-price meals will now receive school meals for free after July 1 under HB100.
Right now, to receive free school meals, a family’s income must be at or below 130% of the federal poverty level — about $40,560 annually for a family of four.
Next academic year, these students will qualify for free meals.
A previous version of HB100 would have required Utah to keep supporting the Summer EBT program beyond this school year.
For Utah, that’s about $618,600 to secure over $31 million in summer food assistance for approximately 260,000 children across the state.
The bill also mandates that schools participating in the National School Lunch Program adopt food-waste reduction practices where feasible. »
