State Lawmakers Expand Free School Meals After Rejecting Larger Proposal

(Dan Koeck/For the North Dakota Monitor)

(Jeff Beach – North Dakota Monitor) – A day after rejecting free school meals for all North Dakota K-12 students, House members  increased the number of students who qualify for free lunch.

Within House Bill 1013, the budget bill for the Department of Public Instruction, students from families within 225% of the federal poverty line would be eligible for free lunch. That’s an increase from 200% of the poverty line that was funded in the 2023 session.

At 225%, a family of four with an income of about $72,000 would qualify for free lunches.

A public opinion poll earlier this year by the North Dakota News Cooperative showed strong public support for free school meals but the House on Monday voted down a bill to spend $140 million to pay for the meals.

“I know our emails have been blasted in the last week or so and on this, and I think we need to respond in some fashion, and this is the best thing I’ve seen so far,” Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, said during a meeting Tuesday of the House Appropriations Committee as it amended the bill.