Eliminating the Burden of School Meal Debt
This report discusses the importance of school meals, universal free meals during the pandemic, school meal debt, school lunch shaming, and ideas and best practices for handling unpaid school meal fees.
Published 2022-08-01School meals are a critical part of Kansas kids’ educational experience and wellbeing. Across the state, school nutrition programs provided over 330,000 school lunches per day in 2021-2022. In addition to ensuring students are healthy and full, school meals also boost a child’s capacity for learning, engaging in extracurricular activities, and connecting with behavioral and emotional support.