Trump administration proposal could end automatic free lunch for 1 million kids
Approximately 1 million students across the United States could lose their automatic eligibility for free lunches under a new Trump administration proposal.
The administration wants to tighten the rules for receiving food stamp benefits, but it could end up costing some kids the free meals they count on at school.
More than 40 Des Moines schools use federal funds to provide free lunch to all students.
"It is hard to imagine how a kid is going to have a quality learning experience if they're sitting in a classroom hungry," said Anne Discher, with Child and Family Policy Center of Iowa.
Discher is keeping track of the new proposal to tighten eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, or SNAP. Its users automatically qualify for free lunches.
U.S. Department of Agriculture has released an analysis finding as many as 982,000 children could be affected by the change. About half of those children would remain eligible for free meals, but their families would have to apply to qualify.
Most of the rest would have to pay a reduced price of 40 cents for school lunch. Approximately 40,000 would need to pay full price.
"One of the benefits of those families is their children get free lunches, so those free lunches will go away for those kids so not only are they losing SNAP benefits, but they are looking at increased school lunch costs," Discher said.