Families who qualify for reduced price school lunch but struggle to pay for it will no longer have to worry as long as New Jersey lawmakers get their way.
The state Senate and Assembly on Monday each passed a bill requiring the state to spend $4.5 million to pick up the tab for about 518,000 students eligible for reduced price school breakfast and lunch.
If signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, the legislation would erase the 30 cents those students currently pay for reduced price school breakfast and the 40 cents for reduced price lunch.
"The sad fact is that for many families the financial burden is too great,” said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, a sponsor of the bill.
Students get free school meals if they come from a household that earns less than 130% of the federal poverty line (an annual income of less than $33,475 for a family of four). A four-person family that makes more than $33,475 and less than $47,638 qualifies for reduced price lunch.
The the Senate voted 35-0 and the Assembly 71-0-2 to pass the bill.
The proposal comes as lawmakers are also trying to combat controversial lunch shaming policies that have thrust the state into national headlines.
The Cherry Hill School District recently came under fire for considering serving tuna sandwiches to students with lunch debt or banning students from the prom if their debt grows too high. The district also refused to accept a donation to wipe away $14,000 in lunch debt.
School districts say many families that can afford lunch are simply not paying. But state lawmakers have focused on stories of low-income families that can’t afford reduced price meals or immigrant families that are afraid of filling out the paperwork to qualify for free lunch.
Making lunch free for families struggling to pay the reduced price should help districts avoid grappling with lunch debt, said Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, D-Camden.
