Thanks to additional funding from the State of Oregon’s Student Success Act, Portland Public Schools will be able to offer free breakfast and lunch again next school year.
The change comes after last school year, when families not on free or reduced-price meal plans had to pay for meals after the district provided free food to students during the pandemic. The school district serves over 40,000 students.
Whitney Ellersick, PPS’s executive director of nutrition services, announced in an Aug. 12 email that all students were automatically enrolled in the program.
A PPS free and reduced-price meal eligibility report for 2019-2020 shows that before the pandemic, just over 38 percent of PPS students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
The Student Success Act was passed in the 2019 legislative session and, at the time of passage, was expected to invest over $2 billion every two years in Oregon education. Project funding for 2023-2025 includes $107.1 million for improved access to school meals.
“Access to nutritious meals is a critical component to student success and well-being, and we are pleased to provide this opportunity on behalf of our students,” Ellersick said in the email.
