Another 51,000 kids will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch in schools under a new law Gov. Phil Murphy signed Tuesday, marking the second expansion of the free school meals program in the past two years.
“We will make sure that our young students receive all the calories and nutrients they need to learn, to play, and to grow,” Murphy said during a signing ceremony at South Amboy Elementary School.
The new law now makes families of four who make up to $67,200 annually — that’s 224% of the federal poverty level — eligible for free school breakfast and lunch programs. The law will go into effect for the school year that starts in September 2024. Private school students will be eligible for the programs for the first time.
More than 450,000 of the 1.4 million public school students in New Jersey are considered economically disadvantaged, according to the state Department of Education.
Nearly 400,000 students in the state received free or reduced-priced breakfast or lunch during 2019 and 2020, federal data shows.
Supporters of the legislation say school meals are critical to a child’s ability to learn in school. Students who struggle with hunger are more likely to struggle with physical illness, mental health issues, and behavioral problems, they say. They also stress that for some kids, school meals can be their only meals of the day.
The new law directs the state’s food security office to develop plans to promote and expand New Jersey’s school meal programs and study school food insecurity.
“Hunger can have serious, negative impacts on a student’s academic performance. No child’s grades should suffer because they are dealing with the physical and emotional effects of hunger,” said Lisa Pitz of Hunger Free New Jersey.
The bill was one of numerous Murphy signed Tuesday that passed in the waning days of the last legislative session, which ended last week.
Expanding school food programs and fighting food insecurity are top priorities for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex). While studies show kids learn better when they’re fed, Coughlin said expanding access to meals is simply the right thing to do.
“It is a big deal on a human level because it makes such a difference. It helps break the cycle of poverty. It helps make a difference in so many people’s lives,” he said.
The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services said expanding the free school meals program will run state taxpayers about $34.1 million for the fiscal year that begins in July and about $7 million each following year. Murphy acknowledged the expansion is “not cheap,” but a worthy investment.
Coughlin criticized the 15 Republican-led states in the country that refused federal dollars to fund a new summer meal program for children, and suggested the money turned down by those states should go to states like New Jersey that are participating.
“I hope they can’t find a good night’s sleep until they figure out what they ought to be doing to help the people of their state. That’s not true here in New Jersey,” he said. “The contrast is stark here.”
In 2022, another bill signed by Murphy raised the eligibility level for free school meals from an income of 185% of the federal poverty level to 199%, which expanded the program to 26,000 more students. And in 2019, Murphy signed legislation eliminating copays for students qualifying for reduced-price meals.
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