The national school breakfast and lunch programs are federally assisted meal programs operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions.

The meals provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free breakfast and lunch to children each school day.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government funded free meals for all students - but it has now discontinued the funding.

Below is information how families can learn more about qualifying for free or reduced breakfast and lunch.

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a meal service option for local educational agencies and schools in high-poverty areas. CEP may be implemented in individual schools, groups of schools, or entire school districts. CEP allows participating schools to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without the burden of collecting household applications. Parents need to check with their individual districts to see if it is part of the program.

Looking for more information on the State of our Schools? Click on the links below for updates from the tri-state area:

Bronx State of our Schools
Brooklyn State of our Schools
Connecticut State of our Schools
Hudson Valley State of our Schools
Long Island State of our Schools
New Jersey State of our Schools
Westchester State of our Schools