As members of the Lunch 4 Learning campaign, we are pleased to announce New York City has included additional funds in this year’s budget to expand universal free school lunch to include 90% of schools and 84% of students. Schools with more than 70 percent of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch were included in this expansion, adding 890 schools to the 595 currently with universal. While not a fully universal expansion, these numbers represent a significant increase in the number of students covered by universal free school lunch. Advocates will continue to push for a fully inclusive and universal school meals policy.
