LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Free universal school meals will be offered once again for students at schools within the Clark County School District for the 2023-2024 school year, according to the Nevada Dept. of Agriculture.
In late 2022, Nevada state legislators on the Interim Finance Committee agreed to put $28 million in American Rescue Plan funds towards an additional year of universal free school meals for Nevada children during the 2023-2024 school year. This was promised by former governor Steve Sisolak in his State of the State address last year.
All school meals are currently free this current school year, too, at CCSD, according to a district spokesperson.
However, free school meals for all students — no questions asked — wasn't always the norm at most school districts across the country. This trend was largely born out of the pandemic when the federal government issued waivers to school districts to make school meals free for all kids.
Those waivers have since lapsed as the government transitions out of pandemic-era aid programs.
Since the expiration of those waivers, many states have decided to continue offering free universal school meals on their own. However, many other states have instead reverted back to how school meals worked prior to the pandemic in many places, which involved families having to fill out applications for free or reduced-price meals at school. Some believe the old system stigmatized food insecurity.
Here in Nevada, free school meals will remain the norm through the end of the 2023-2024 school year. What happens after that, though, remains to be seen. Some state legislators are spearheading efforts to try and make school meals free for all in perpetuity.
Representatives with the food bank, Three Square, in southern Nevada say they support free universal school meals for children, adding that this week — National School Breakfast Week — reinforces how important school meals are when it comes to fostering learning and growth.
David Barragan, health educator with the Southern Nevada Health District echoed that, saying kids' minds and bodies are still growing. Barragan also pointed to studies showing how good nutrition at breakfast can improve kids' academic performance and reduce behavioral problems. He explained, the American Academy of Pediatrics uses a simple way to help families build healthy habits — just remember the numbers 5-2-1-0.
"Five fruits and vegetables a day, two hours of less or screen time each day, one hour of physical activity each day, and then zero sugary drinks per day. It's as simple as that to do healthy habits," Barragan said.
Representatives with Three Square added, that another reason school breakfast and lunch are so important is because many kids face food insecurity at home. For many students, the meals they get at school — may be the only ones they get at all. So while meals for CCSD students at school are covered this school year and next, many worry if kids are getting the nutrition they need outside of the classroom, too.
"Unfortunately, kids go hungry all the time. We know that about 1 in 4 children live in a household where they don't know where that next meal is coming from. So, it's great that we have school breakfast and lunch to rely on, but we have things like spring break coming up and unfortunately that leaves kids in an even more vulnerable spot," Lisa Segler, Three Square Chief Strategy Officer.
Three Square does offer help for students dealing with food insecurity at home through initiatives like the Backpack for Kids program, which provides bags of nutritious food each Friday to children during the school year who might otherwise go without during weekends and holidays. Three Square also offers Kids Cafe, one of the nation’s largest charitable meal service programs, which provides free prepared food and nutrition education to hungry children in a safe environment.
If you need assistance finding food or are a senior in need of home-delivered groceries, you can call Three Square at (702) 765-4030.
