Asheville City Schools to offer free meals for 2025-26 school year

Reimbursement rates increase as thousands of RCPS students identified eligible for free meals

Rockdale County Public Schools is set to receive additional reimbursement over the next four years through the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) after more than 10,000 students were identified as eligible for free meals.

Study shows food preferences, stigma among reasons students don't eat free school meals

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government enabled schools to provide all children, regardless of need, with free meals to address nutrition and food insecurity. While program participation increased, many students declined the free meals, missing out on potential health and academic benefits.

Asheville City Schools to offer free meals for 2025-26 school year

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA) -- A school district in western North Carolina will give out free breakfast and lunch for the 2025-26 school year. Asheville City Schools' leaders said the district is working through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program and Chartwells K-12 to make free meals a possibility for students. The CEP allows schools to offer free meals to all students, eliminating the need for families to complete school meal applica…

ER school kids to eat for free

ER school kids to eat for free Ray Dyer Wed, 07/16/2025 - 10:24 Long before State School Superintendent Ryan Walters demanded Oklahoma public schools feed students for free, El Reno Public Schools was working to do exactly that. In April, El Reno was notified it had qualified for a program administered by the USDA that would provide every student in the district with free breakfast and lunch during the school year. Known as the Community Eligibi…