North Dakota Universal School Meals Proposal Gains Ground

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Judith Ruiz-Branch. Prairie News Service ) – A North Dakota coalition has moved one step closer to getting a state measure that would offer free school meals to all K-through-12 students on the November ballot.

The Together for School Meals initiative collected about 26,000 more signatures than what is required for the petition.

Cheryl Kary, executive director of the Sacred Pipe Resource Center and a member of the coalition, said free school meals would benefit Indigenous populations her organization serves – and all families – as affordability concerns continue to impact more communities across the state.

“The reality is that providing the lunches in the school system is for the overwhelming number of middle-class people who are just getting by,” she said, “and we really need that assistance so that the kids can have a really robust educational experience.”