Georgia school lunch crunch: Law could reduce access to free, low-cost meals

Changes to federal safety net programs could mean many Georgia children will start the new school year without access to subsidized school meals, according to a recent report from the Center for American Progress.

The longtime policy research nonprofit, based in Washington D.C., released a state-by-state analysis of the impact of cuts included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed into law by President Donald Trump a year ago. The report estimates more than 1.2 million Georgia students were eligible for the program during the 2024-25 school year. It’s unclear how many of those students could lose access to the program.

CAP estimates a family that loses eligibility and has two children would need to come up with about $1,134 a year to pay for school lunches, based on meal prices from the 2025-26 school year. Those costs are likely to increase this year.

“That is not a small amount of money to a lot of families, especially amid rising costs,” said Paige Shoemaker DeMio, a CAP senior policy analyst and co-author of the report.

Previously, children in families that qualified for federal safety net programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid, were automatically enrolled in the school lunch program. However, the new legislation tightens eligibility for those programs, such as expanding work requirements. As a result, fewer people have qualified for benefits.

“(The law) created more burdensome paperwork requirements, and then it also created those stricter eligibility restrictions … and that is what’s really restricting participation,” DeMio said. “We have already seen over 4 million people (in the U.S.) who have been cut from SNAP since the law took effect, and I think a little under a million of those are children.”

Schools where at least 25% of students receive free meals because of enrollment in programs like SNAP or Medicaid can qualify to provide free meals to all students at that school. DeMio said if fewer families are eligible for those programs, schools could lose that “community eligibility” status.

Some metro Atlanta school districts have renewed their community eligibility status through the 2027-28 school year. That means students at those schools should still receive free or reduced-price lunches during that time.

In Atlanta Public Schools, 80% of schools qualify for community eligibility. The district said students at the remaining schools also have options.

“Families at these schools who may lose SNAP benefits prior to (the upcoming school year) can still apply for free or reduced-price meals based on household income,” the district said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Each … school has a designated coordinator to support Nutrition Services by promoting the application process and assisting families with completion.”

Clayton County Public Schools has also renewed its community eligibility status through 2028. Rockdale County Public Schools said it too has renewed its community eligibility status for this school year.

Multiple studies, including one by the federal government, show students who miss meals often have poorer academic performance.