Universal Free School Meals: FY24 Legislative Report
An update on the implementation of the first year of permanent universal free school meals in terms of student
participation, distribution of funding and recommendations for future implementation.
July 1, 2024
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 This document was prepared by the
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Russell D. Johnston, PhD
Acting Commissioner
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Members
Ms. Katherine Craven, Chair, Brookline
Mr. Matt Hills, Vice-Chair, Newton
Dr. Ericka Fisher, Worcester
Ms. Ela Hopple Gardiner, Wellesley, Student Member
Ms. Dálida Rocha, Worcester
Ms. Farzana Mohamed, Newton
Mr. Michael Moriarty, Holyoke
Mr. Paymon Rouhanifard, Brookline
Ms. Mary Ann Stewart, Lexington
Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, Secretary of Education, Andover
Dr. Martin West, Newton
Russell D. Johnston, PhD, Acting Commissioner
Secretary to the Board
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, an affirmative action employer, is committed to
ensuring that all of its programs and facilities are accessible to all members of the public.
We do not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, gender identity, or sexual
orientation.
Inquiries regarding the Department’s compliance with Title IX and other civil rights laws may be directed to the
Human Resources Director, 75 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148-4906. Phone: 781-338-6105.
© 2024 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Permission is hereby granted to copy any or all parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes. Please credit
the “Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.”
This document printed on recycled paper
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
135 Santilli Highway, Everett, Massachusetts 01249-1962
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education
135 Santilli Highway, Everett, Massachusetts 02149-1962 Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
Russell D. Johnston, PhD
Acting Commissioner
July 1, 2024
Dear Honorable Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means,
Honorable Chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, and Secretary of the
Executive Office for Administration and Finance:
I am pleased to submit this report to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and
Means, Executive Office of Administration and Finance, and Joint Committee on
Education Universal Free School Meals: School Year 2022-2023 Implementation,
pursuant to Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023, line item 1596-2422. School Year 2022-
2023 marked the first year of implementation of a state-funded universal free school
meal program in Massachusetts. The data has shown that continuing with universal
free school meals has:
• Sustained high student participation in both lunch and breakfast;
• Prevented a significant drop in participation as seen in other states; and
• Provided significant investment in school nutrition programs to sustain and
improve the nutritional quality of meals.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or Jessica Leitz, Director of
External Partnerships, at Jessica.leitz@mass.gov. We look forward to continuing to
facilitate and coordinate this work.
Sincerely,
Russell D. Johnston, PhD
Acting Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………....1
District Reimbursement Method………………………………………………………………..1
Distribution of Funding………………………………………………………………………….2
Student Meal Participation……………………………………………………………………...3
Investing in School Nutrition Programs………………………………………………………..4
Maximizing Federal Revenue and Future Implementation
Options…………………………………………………………………………………..………..4
Appendix A: Distribution of Funds……………………………………………………………..6
Introduction
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education respectfully submits this Report to the
Legislature: Universal Free School Meals: School Year 2022-2023 Implementation pursuant to
Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023, line item 1596-2422, that reads in part:
“…provided further, that not later than January 15, 2024, the department of elementary and
secondary education shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and
means, the joint committee on education and the executive office for administration and finance
that shall include: (i) data on any change in utilization of school lunch services in districts
receiving funding under this item, delineated by free, reduced and full- pay students as defined
by the National School Lunch Program; (ii) the distribution of funding paid through this item
and, for the purpose of universal free school meals in fiscal year 2023, item 7053-
1925 delineated by school district; and (iii) options to reform, modify or extend the program in a
manner that promotes equity, maximizes federal funds and improves predictability and
sustainability of funding.”
Outside Section 34 of the FY24 budget amended Section 1C of Chapter 69 of the Massachusetts
General Laws to require these schools to offer both breakfast and lunch free of charge to all
students. At the signing of the FY24 budget, Massachusetts became the eighth state to make
universal free school meals permanent.1
Because DESE has not yet received final FY24 school meals data, this report utilizes data from
FY23 (School Year 2022-23, or “SY22-23”). Next year’s legislative report will include final data
from SY22-23. The state funding supplanted revenue that would have been paid by families in
the form of student meal charges to support school nutrition programs. The state funding was
distributed to districts as a part of the existing monthly claim reimbursement process as a per
lunch and breakfast reimbursement in addition to the applicable federal per lunch and breakfast
reimbursements. Total amount distributed to districts in Fiscal Year 2023 was $168.2M.2
District Reimbursement Method
Reimbursement was based on United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National School
Lunch (NSLP) and Breakfast (SBP) Programs per meal federal reimbursement rates for each
student income eligibility category (free, reduced price and paid). The “free” rate is the highest
per meal reimbursement rate since families are not being charged for meals. The “reduced price”
rate is the second highest and the “paid” rate is the lowest per meal reimbursement rate since
families are charged for paid meals. To implement universal free school meals, all breakfasts and
lunches served to students in all schools were reimbursed at the “free” rate regardless of student
income eligibility since meals were free of charge to families across the Commonwealth.
Therefore, consistent with the pandemic waivers, in SY 22-23 universal free school meals state
per meal reimbursement was used to pay the difference between the “free” and “reduced price”
1
Massachusetts Joins Short List of States Providing Free School Meals to All (edweek.org)
1
and “free” and “paid” rate for every lunch and breakfast claimed by a district per month. This
mechanism allowed all meals to be claimed at the highest “free” per meal rate. Most of the funds
were used to pay the difference between the “free” and “paid’ rates since these are the largest
differential. In FY23, this equated to $3.56 per lunch and $2.17 per breakfast.
Distribution of Funding
A total of 379 districts received a total of $168.2M for universal free school meals based on
monthly claims. Since the universal free school meal state reimbursement applied only to meals
claimed as “paid” and “reduced price,” districts with the highest number of “paid” and “reduced
price” students received the highest amounts of funding. The universal free school meals state
funds did not go towards meals that are claimed as “free.” USDA pays in full for meals claimed
as “free.”
Almost all the districts and schools that received funding are not eligible for the Community
Eligibility Provision (CEP), which is the USDA federal universal free school meal program.
Over 185,000 free or reduced price-eligible students attend schools where, if it were not for the
current state funding, meals would not be free of charge to all families.3
Part of the objective of the state funding was to provide the revenue school nutrition programs
would have received if families were charged for school meals. In SY 22-23, the state per meal
reimbursement for a “paid” lunch ($3.56) was likely the average of what a school would have
charged families for school lunch given USDA regulations pertaining to meal pricing and high
inflation. It is important to note that income eligibility guidelines in SY 22-23 was such that a
family of four with an annual income of $56,000 was over income and not eligible for free or
reduced price meals4. Income eligibility for free and reduced price meals is the same for all states
and is not adjusted for varying state cost of living levels. Therefore, a family of a “paid” student
in Massachusetts does not necessarily mean that family could have easily afforded to pay for
school meals. Universal free school meals have removed that financial barrier for all students.
Student Meal Participation
SY 22-23 was the third full school year of universal free school meals in Massachusetts starting
mid SY 19-20 when schools were closed due to the pandemic. As such, families, and students in
SY 22-23 were already accustomed to universal free school meals and a significant increase in
student participation was not anticipated. Instead, the continued extension of free school meals
prevented student participation from severely dropping as seen in states that did not provide state
funding to continue free school meals after the national waivers ended on July 1, 20225.
4
Child Nutrition Programs Income Eligibility Guidelines (2022-2023) | Food and Nutrition Service (usda.gov)
5
Loss of Free School Meals for All Students Results in Drop in School Meal Participation, According to FRAC
Report - Food Research & Action Center
2
In SY22-23:
- 97.5M total lunches were served
- 557,000 students ate lunch every school day
- 44.5M breakfasts were served
- 243,000 students ate breakfast every school day
When compared to the last full school year pre-pandemic and before universal free school meals
(School Year 2018-2019), breakfast and lunch student participation has increased significantly.
• Comparing SY 22-23 to SY 18-19:
o 12.2M more lunches were served.
o 61,500 more students ate lunch every school day.
o 9M more breakfasts were served.
o 43,400 more students ate breakfast every school day. 6
• Notably, these student participation increases occurred while the state K-12 enrollment
decreased by 37,896 from SY 22-23 compared to SY 18-197.
• Almost all the increase in lunches served were lunches claimed as “paid.” Of the 12.2M
increase in lunches served, 11.1M were “paid” lunches. Participation for “paid” students
last year increased by 37.8 percent.
• The number of “free” lunches increased by 3.4M.
• Almost all the increase in breakfasts served were breakfasts claimed as “paid.” Of the 9M
increase in breakfasts served, 7.5M were “paid” breakfasts. Participation for “paid”
students last year increased by 11.2 percent.
• The number of “free” breakfasts increased by 2M.
• The number of lunches claimed as “reduced price” decreased by 2.4M meals and
breakfasts by 500K. The reason for the decrease in the number of meals claimed as
“reduced price” is that many schools were approved for CEP last year. CEP schools only
claim “free” and “paid” meals therefore the “reduced price” meals were distributed
mostly to the “free” category and claimed as such. This did not affect student
participation and only impacted how the meals were claimed.
• The largest gains in participation were among “paid” students which was the main factor
as to how the funds were distributed among districts.
7
DESE School and District Profile Statewide K-12 Enrollment. SY 18-19: 951,631 SY 22-23: 913,735
3
Investing in School Nutrition Programs
The state reimbursement for universal free school meals also allowed districts to invest in school
nutrition programs. The substantial student participation increases statewide generated much
needed revenue for programs. From a school nutrition business perspective, the predictable
monthly revenue helped with budgeting and created new opportunities to reinvest in the
programs including menus. Funds were available to purchase fresh local food from local
producers, including but not limited to farmers, food hubs, and fishermen, with all products
originating within 400-miles.
Staffing continues to be a challenge in school kitchens and cafeterias across the state. In a recent
national School Nutrition Association survey, 93 percent of school nutrition respondents said
they were challenged by staff shortages which can limit efforts to increase scratch cooking8. The
new state investment in school meals can be used to improve staffing levels to meet the demands
of school food service.
Districts were also encouraged to replace aging and inefficient school food equipment and
purchase new equipment to create fun, fresh dining service experiences for both students and
staff. New equipment will not only create a more efficient process but will help create more
serving options and an engaging environment for students and staff.
Districts showed off their nutritious school meals featuring local food and shared recipes with
other districts through DESE's Terrific Trays Competition.
Waltham Public Schools Littleton Public Schools Acton Boxborough PS
Maximizing Federal Revenue and Future Implementation Options
As required by new language inserted into Section 1C of Chapter 69, districts and DESE
maximized federal revenue including requiring eligible schools, groups of schools or entire
districts to adopt CEP. To maximize federal revenue, districts were instructed to continue to
identify student income eligibility for free and reduced price meals because the state universal
free school meals earmark does not pay towards meals claimed as “free” and the universal free
school meals per meal reimbursement for “reduced price” meals is significantly less than the
amount reimbursed towards meals served to “paid” students. Therefore, identifying students as
8
SNA Survey Shows School Meal Programs Face Critical Challenges – School Nutrition Association
4
income eligible for free and reduced price meals while meals are free of charge to all families
reduced the run rate of the earmark.
Identifying students as income eligible for free and reduced price meals is done at the district
level through NSLP application approvals and direct certifying students matched through the
Executive Office for Health and Human Serves (EOHHS) Virtual Gateway. Families were
incentivized to submit NSLP forms, not for the school meals subsidy benefit, but for other local
level educational benefits such as athletics fee waivers. Direct certification is the district process
of directly certifying students for free or reduced price meals by identifying students of families
receiving state assistance such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).
This is done through a matching process conducted by districts through the online Virtual
Gateway system. Districts conduct direct certification throughout the year. Since USDA pays in
full for meals served to students identified as free eligible, encouraging continued and expanding
SNAP outreach will in turn offset spending for universal free school meals. DESE and the
Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) have provided SNAP Outreach Partnership
trainings specifically tailored for schools.
State universal free school meals regulation also required eligible schools to adopt CEP. This
federal claiming method to support universal free school meals pushes a portion of “reduced
price” and “paid” meals to be claimed as “free” as a part of the monthly claim reimbursement
process. As such, districts adopting CEP reduce spending as the state universal free school meals
earmark. For SY 22-23, 119 schools from 37 dis