Big Beautiful Bill threatens California’s free school meal programs

By Taylor Johnson | OBSERVER Staff Writer

The Big Beautiful Bill signed into law July 4 by President Donald Trump won’t just impact federal student loans, vouchers for students to attend private secular or religious schools, or an increase in the child tax credit.

The bill’s cuts will affect how local Sacramento school districts can offer free meal assistance and health services to students.

The recently passed legislation cut $185 million in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, and will impose stricter eligibility requirements.

While the program doesn’t directly fund free school lunch programs, it helps determine student eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. This means fewer students will automatically qualify when the bill is enacted in 2027.

During the 2022-23 school year, California was the first state to implement a statewide universal meals program for schoolchildren.

An enrollment drop could cut federal meal subsidies and raise state costs for meeting all students’ daily nutritional needs, impacting California’s universal meals program.

For Sacramento City Unified, around 64% qualified for free or reduced meals during the 2024-25 school year. In Elk Grove Unified, around 59% qualified, while in San Juan about 54% qualified. Finally, around 57% qualified in Natomas Unified, as did about 88% in Twin Rivers Unified.

Census Bureau data shows that, among all race groups, Black public school students consistently have the highest rates of participation in free and reduced-cost school meals.

Angeles Nelson and Courtney Shojinaga of Nourish California, an advocacy group that calls for equitable access to food, health, and well-being in the state, said the organization estimates about 3.1 million families will lose all or part of their CalFresh benefits.

The group also said some districts may no longer qualify for federal programs such as the Community Eligibility Provision, which helps high-needs schools serve free meals without collecting applications.

“HR 1 harms the well-being of children and families in California – particularly Black and brown communities,” Nourish California said in a statement. “Cutting SNAP from those who need it most will increase hunger, threaten California’s Universal School Meals Program, and deepen racial and economic inequities.”

The group added that the potential loss in federal funding threatens the state’s ability to sustain the program because state and local districts will have to compensate for the deficit from their budgets.

“If access to free and reduced meal programs decreased, Black students would once again have to face possible stigma associated with participating in meal programs at school,” the statement said. “Additionally, they would lose access to a reliable meal and grapple with inconsistent food options. This could have harmful impacts on their health and academic performance.”

With about $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in the state, school-based services such as vision and hearing screenings, nursing services, school counseling services and environmental support for special education students will be impacted.

The bill exempts parents of children 13 and under from meeting work requirements; however, families with children over 14 who do not report monthly work hours are expected to lose coverage.

Medi-Cal covers about 56% of California’s children and youth.

Jaren Sorkow, the Children’s Defense Fund’s California state director, said it’s crucial to ensure all young people have health care homes for their body and minds.

“We’re alarmed by any scenario where young people could have less access to mental health services than is available to them now,” Sorkow said. “But the fact of the matter is, with less money to go around for Medicaid and Medi-Cal, it is quite possible there will be fewer resources available for the provision of mental health services.”

Sorkow said school-based health centers that rely on Medi-Cal reimbursement funds could be affected, including possible closures.

He added that he expects existing disparities to be exacerbated by cuts to certain health-related services funded through Medi-Cal.

“We should note that these health centers won’t just be under pressure due to Medicaid cuts either,” he said. “The dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and new guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will impact their work as well.”

Superintendent David Gordon said Sacramento County school districts need the voices of families in the fight to band together and let leaders know how harmful these cuts are for the youth.

“We’re all worried,” Gordon said. “I can understand the fear. I share it. But we are not sitting quietly. We’re working together to fight this in court, in the Capitol, in our communities, and on the airwaves. We’re doing everything in our power to protect classrooms and student services.”

Related