The lunch line is longer and the cafeteria staff are busier this year: All nutrition services have become free in Portland Public Schools (PPS).
The free lunch program, which took effect at the start of the 2024-25 school year, grants every student in the district access to free breakfast and lunch. Having nutritious meals available for free opens an oppor-tunity for all students to stay energized throughout the day — improving focus, engagement and attendance.
This program was partly made possible by the Student Success Act (SSA). Passed in 2019, the SSA is a piece of state legislature funded by a tax on businesses; it provides an additional $1 billion for Oregon schools annually. Whitney Ellersick, the senior director of the Nutrition Services Department at PPS, says, “That tax fuels education dollars, and part of that funding covered the gap of financial need that it would take for us to execute this program.”
The free lunch program, however, is ultimately out of the district’s control. All regulations for public school nutrition services are set by Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In 2014, the USDA made the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) an option for school districts and public
boards of education. Under CEP, school districts can apply to get free meals as long as the district meets a certain threshold of students who qualify for free and reduced lunches.
Those students are commonly recognized through PPS programs like the McKinney-Vento program, which protects youth experiencing houselessness, or through federal benefit programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Schools or districts meeting the criteria can apply to the CEP provision, which enables them to serve free meals to all students without requiring families to submit an application and at no cost for either party.
In October 2023, the threshold for school districts to qualify for CEP dropped from having 40% of students eligible for free breakfast and lunch to just 25%, making PPS qualified to apply for this provision.
Ellersick notes the importance of this program for many school districts. “The more that we can eliminate
that paperwork, the more our finances and resources can go towards people who make the food on the plate,” she says.
Proper nutrition is vital for student success. Multiple studies have shown that eating healthy and protein-rich foods, especially for breakfast, can improve cognitive function and reduce absenteeism. Absenteeism has recently become a large issue for Oregon schools, with 38.1% of students being recognized as “chronically absent” during the 2022-23 school year.
PPS hopes to increase both attendance and student success by providing free and nutritious breakfasts every morning. Ellersick says, “It’s very, very important for me that I’m providing opportunities for students to have access to food because keeping your bodies fueled and well nourished is how you’re going to be successful … It’s a big component (of) our social aspect of life and our cultures. It brings us all together.”
She is also hopeful that the free lunch program can continue to reduce the stigma around school lunch; sometimes students who are eligible for free-and-reduced lunch choose not to get lunch because they are
embarrassed. Recent research has found 42% of families qualifying for free or reduced lunch reported that their child was less likely to eat a school meal if it was not free for everyone. “It is intended for everybody, and you don’t have to worry about having money in your pocket in order to participate,” Ellersick says.
Although this program has many benefits, it has created complications for Grant High School. The lunch line at Grant, which was already notoriously long and slow-moving in past years, is now even worse due to the dramatic influx in people who receive school lunch.
“There is definitely an increase in students getting lunch! Our daily average is roughly 340 students. Last year, 340 students (was) considered a very busy day. Our highest number of meals given out this year has been 375 students,” says Mickey Hill, Grant’s head cook. “We’ve been a three-person kitchen for the last couple of years and have relied heavily on student volunteers for help.”
Recently, the basement-level lunch station has been opened to serve more students. Prior to its opening, Hill said he was looking forward to operating at full capacity: “We have faced some logistical challenges, but overall, I feel that our hard work is worth it! It’s very satisfying to feed every student who wants a meal. I just can’t wait to open up the whole kitchen and see how many more students we can serve.”
PPS also offered free nutrition services in the 2021-22 school year due to a specific one-year approval from Congress. The district saw a great increase in the number of students getting lunch at school during that year as well. “When (lunches) were all free during that pandemic year, we were serving over 700 students per lunch. When we had to revert back … we saw it decrease by almost 300 students per day,” Ellersick says about Franklin High School, which had the most notable dropoff. Similar trends have shown through the start of this school year. At Lincoln High School, the kitchen staff has seen an increase of over 100 students per day in the lunch line. Ainsworth Elementary School has typically not served breakfast in past years but reports that over 50 students have been getting breakfast every day since the start of the school year.
Grant freshman Walter Bolch brought lunch from home all through middle school, but now gets free school lunch because it’s easier for his family. He says, “Even if I forget to make my own lunch at home,
I don’t have to worry about costing my family money.” Although getting school lunch has been helpful, Bolch wishes the lunch period was longer so he could have more time to eat. “I had no time to eat after I got my lunch because it’s a really short lunch period,” he says. “I just decided to wait ’til the final ten minutes when there’s no line and just go get my lunch … It felt like a waste of time just waiting in the lunch line.”
Grant sophomore Sebastian Girdharry has noticed both a longer wait time and a decline in the quality of meals. He says, “It takes 10 times as long to actually get the lunch, and then once you get there, it’s just not
as good food as last year.” Both Bolch and Girdharry have seen many people taking advantage
of the free lunches. “I see people who bring their own lunch from home and get lunch at the end because it’s free,” Bolch says.
Many are hopeful that the free lunch program will continue beyond this year, but it is largely out of PPS’ control. However, Ellersick is confident that strong advocacy can make a difference. She says, “If students put their voices together … I’m able to help share those voices with our legislators at Congress to help influence bigger changes that are important to our community.”
