The House extended a school meal lifeline; families are now waiting on

Lawmakers are racing the clock to pass a bill that would extend pandemic school meal waivers through the summer and next school year. The House on Thursday passed a nearly $3 billion bill, 376-42, that would continue to provide more free meals for lower income families but not for all students who had been receiving them for the past two years. Schools have felt the strain of rising food, gas and labor costs. Waivers passed by Congress at the start of the pandemic gave relief from regulations that monitor how, when and who gets school meals that expire in seven days. Congress couldn't reach a deal in time to include in the budget signed by President Biden in March after Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell pushed against the extension. A bipartisan group in both chambers reached a deal earlier this week on a budget-neutral bill, now called the Keep Kids Fed Act, that would extend some of the waivers through the next school year but not others. Despite a smooth sail through the House, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is blocking the bill in the Senate. Proponents still hope to get it to the president by the weekend. The bill would fully extend all waivers through the summer to allow meal deliveries and grab-and-go options for students. It would also extend supply chain flexibilities and higher than pre-pandemic federal reimbursement rates through the 2022-2023 school year. But the biggest omission is the exclusion of flexibilities that suspended eligibility requirements for free and reduced-price meal applications, giving every student free meals. Though the bill provides free meals to more students, families will need to resume filling out applications to qualify. Before the pandemic, federal laws required schools meet specific nutrition requirements that governed what they could and could not serve students. They had to serve their meals in "congregate" settings, like a cafeteria or a park. Families had to meet income requirements to receive free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program. And in the summer, only areas that had 50% of kids qualifying for free or reduced-priced meals can operate a summer meal program. Those rules went out the window during the pandemic."[Waivers] really provided a lifeline, because in a lot of rural and suburban communities, poverty is so widely dispersed over large geographies," said Jillien Meier, director of partnerships and campaign strategies at No Kid Hungry. "So even if 49% of your kids in your community qualifies for free or reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program, you can't operate an open summer meal site."The school meal waivers allowed for students to grab lunches to-go and or be delivered via school buses. They also provided flexibility for schools when the supply chain disruptions began and never quite went away."You might be ordering fresh fruits and vegetables and you get donuts. You order 5,000 cases of something you might get 20. All data is taken from the source: http://npr.org Article Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/23/1106760802/... #school #newspaper #newsworldbbc #newstodayinusa #newstodayupdate #bbcnewsworld #