BARNSTABLE – As part of the $56 billion dollar state budget recently signed by Governor Maura Healey, Massachusetts will be adopting the universal free school meals program.
The budget covers the 2024 fiscal year that began on July 1 and will include spending on schools, child care, workforce development, public transit, housing, and more.
Approximately $172 million dollars of the budget will be allocated to the universal free school meals program providing food for public school students in kindergarten through high school.
The meals program is projected to save families around $1,200 per student, per year.
“The school lunch program is something I’m extremely proud of,” said House Speaker Ronald Mariano.
“I know the stresses of being in the classroom and seeing kids come in from the projects hungry, falling asleep at their desks because they haven’t eaten since lunch the day before,” Mariano said.
As of July, at least seven states including California, Colorado, Maine, and Michigan among others, have established optional or mandatory universal school meal programs for schools participating in national school lunch and school breakfast programs.
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