COLUMBIA, S.C. — Changes are coming to the free or reduced lunch program.
Pandemic protections that allowed all children to eat free have expired.
Now, families need to complete an income-based application to qualify.
"So, now we have some parents who have never completed free and reduced priced meal applications and as we transition back to normal, the applications now have to be completed," said Donna Davis, with the South Carolina Department of Education.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), children are automatically eligible for free meals if anyone in their household gets benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, also known as TANF, will also qualify families.
Dr. Harrison Goodwin leads the Kershaw County School District and said there's a gap in coverage ahead of the school year.
"Basically, when we look at the number of students who qualified for free and reduced lunch pre-pandemic, we would not guess that that percentage has changed much post-pandemic," Dr. Goodwin said. "In fact, it may have gone the other way, and we have not yet seen that many forms come in that have been approved, so we really need to reach parents and get them to take the 10 or so minutes that it takes to complete the form."
Applications are available now with many districts providing digital forms, Davis said.
"If parents do not have the applications completed by the beginning of the school year, that's fine," Davis said. "We do have some grace time to allow them to complete those applications. So, we are doing everything that we can to assist parents so that the students who automatically qualify for free and reduced meals will continue to receive those meals."
Some schools use a program called the "Community Eligibility Provision" that helps them serve all meals free.
Davis said parents should contact their child's school to learn more.