Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight
PIERRE — South Dakota families who qualify for reduced-price school meals could get those meals for free if the state Senate backs and Gov. Larry Rhoden signs a bill endorsed by a panel of lawmakers Tuesday.
The Senate Education Committee voted 5-2 to advance House Bill 1082. The bill passed the House of Representatives 46-20.
If the bill becomes law, school districts could no longer charge students for breakfast or lunch if their families qualify for reduced-price meals under federal income guidelines. The state’s Department of Education would reimburse districts for the money they currently charge for reduced-price meals.
“We mandate attendance in our schools, and we fund every other component of the education system, because we recognize that learning requires basic conditions,” said bill sponsor Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls. “Nutrition during the school day is one of those conditions.”
Students in the reduced-price program currently pay 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. The rest of the cost is covered by the federal government, which also covers the cost of free meals for students whose families meet stricter income limits.
More than a third of the state’s public school students receive free or reduced-price school meals, according to the South Dakota Department of Education.
“There are bills every year that come before us to ask for more money than for more books or better curriculum or better schools or whatever,” said Sen. Stephanie Sauder, R-Bryant. “This is so basic.”
Supporters of the bill said students can feel distracted when they’re hungry throughout the school day, or may feel embarrassed when there isn’t enough money in their lunch account to cover a meal.
Some families incur debt throughout a school year, said Coy Sasse, the chief financial officer for Rapid City Area Schools. His district sent some of those debts to collections, but the debts aren’t always paid.
“You all have the opportunity not only to serve the students of our state and provide for a basic human need that allows them to maximize their educational experience,” he told the committee, “but also provide a layer of revenue and financial stability for districts in a very challenging economic environment.”
Sen. Lauren Nelson, R-Yankton, cast one of the two votes against the bill. She said community partners can step in to cover unpaid balances on reduced price-school meals.
“Get out there and find those stakeholders in your community who have the resources to provide the funding to do this,” Nelson said.
Wittman has proposed similar legislation for the past three years, including bills targeted specifically for students who are on reduced-price meal plans in 2024 and 2025. In 2023, she pushed to make school lunches free for all students in the state, which would have been a nearly $40 million funding increase for the Department of Education.