The Collinsville Community Unit School District will offer all of its students free meals this school year through a federal program, joining a growing number of school districts that are learning lessons from the pandemic.
Schools offered free meals for all students across the country through federal pandemic-era waivers. As those programs came to an end last school year, educators reported higher meal debt and fewer students eating meals in cafeterias.
Collinsville administrators were also seeing lower numbers, said Superintendent Mark Bradley Skertich, so they started to talk about a way to return to free meals.
“When families and students did not have to worry about costs for a meal, more individuals ate,” Skertich said. “And so when we have the opportunity to not have students worried about their next meal, going hungry, or if they can charge or not, that's a big deal.”
The district decided to participate in a federal program, the Community Eligibility Provision. It allows school districts with a higher percentage of high-need students to give all of their children free meals, instead of collecting individual information and allowing just some kids to receive free and reduced-price meals.
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Administrators looked at Collinsville’s student demographics, the number of meals served and the potential financial impact of the program, which is only partially subsidized. The district already had four schools that were qualified individually, so now all 12 will have the same free meal program.
The calculation doesn’t always result in participation for other school districts. Across the country, about 67% of eligible districts chose to participate in the program last school year. In Illinois, about 61% of districts participated; in Missouri, the share was 62%. Often it comes down to finances. Skertich said districts “have to find a balance.”
Still, participation in the program has been increasing steadily nationwide and in Illinois. Last school year, almost half of Illinois students were able to eat for free at school because of the Community Eligibility Provision.
The pandemic led even more school districts to participate, said Tim Murphy, principal consultant in the nutrition department at the Illinois State Board of Education.
“Having gone through that experience, we're having an increased number of districts like, ‘Oh, maybe CEP is right for us now,’” Murphy said.
The program can also be appealing for districts because it is easier to administer, Murphy said.
“It basically simplifies that process, so now all your students are getting free meals and you don't have to do all that paperwork upfront to determine the eligibility statuses,” Murphy said. “It just kind of comes down to the importance of having children have nutritious meals at school to be ready for class and succeed.”
The Collinsville school district joins a handful of others in the St. Louis region that are participating in the federal free meal program. They include St. Louis Public Schools, most districts in north St. Louis County and others in the Metro East, including East St. Louis, Granite City, Alton and Madison.
The Illinois House and Senate have also passed legislation to make meals free in all of the state’s schools. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has not yet signed it.
