Should school meals be free for all at Washington elementary schools?

Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is requesting funding to provide free breakfast and lunch to students at all elementary schools across the state, regardless of income.

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal hoping to get the state closer to providing universal free school meals, as states like California and Minnesota have done since Covid-era free lunch waivers expired.

Washington lawmakers balked at a proposed bill to make school meals free to all students. Instead, they made meals free at elementary schools with a high proportion of low-income students — like in Auburn. About six in 10 students there are considered low-income, and the district has been providing free meals at all schools since 2022.

Janis Campbell-Aikens, the district's executive director of child nutrition, said the program has made school lunch rooms more joyous.

"I've had conversations with principals who say that this is the best thing that's happened because they don't have to worry about lunchtime," she said. "It's always been stressful in the past, worrying about if this child has money in their account."

Campbell-Aikens said the number of students getting school breakfast and lunch has shot up, and the program has been a sort of cafeteria equalizer, now that kids don't have to worry in the lunch line about whether they can afford their meal.

It also means less paperwork — both for the district and parents, who no longer have to fill out an extensive, time-consuming application for their student to receive free and reduced lunch.

"We are serving more kids of all eligibility, of all economic backgrounds, and I think it's because that stigma is gone now," she said. "And all the kids just wait in line together, and we serve them all the same way."

Meals will remain free at all Auburn schools through 2026, but Campbell-Aikens hopes more schools will be able to provide the same service in the future.

This session, which kicked off Monday, the legislature is set to again consider a bill to provide free school meals to all students.

Correction, 2 p.m., 1/9/2024: A previous version of this story misidentified the funding proposals for free school meals. OSPI is requesting funding for free elementary school lunches. A separate legislative bill seeks to fund free meals for all public schools.