COLUMBUS — A coalition representing children’s hospitals, teachers, doctors, food banks, and others on Tuesday urged Ohio lawmakers to provide for free meals to all K-12 students in the next state budget.

The Department of Education and Workforce estimates the annual price tag at between $300 million and $330 million.

Hunger-Free Schools Ohio argued at a news conference and during budget hearing testimony that the promise of a nutritious breakfast and lunch at schools would complement state efforts to improve student performance in the classroom, reduce truancy, and increase pupil focus. Breakfast alone would cost about $50 million a year.

C.J. Eaton, a student at Antwerp High School in Paulding County, said his family, with both parents working, no longer qualifies for reduced lunches.

“Being able to eat lunch at school should be the last thing we should need to worry about each day,” he said. “No student should have to go all day without eating or being distracted about where and when their next meal will be.”

Gov. Mike DeWine has said the cost is too much.

“I would like to do that, frankly, but we looked at that this year and could not really put it into the budget,” the governor told The Blade in February.

“You could do this for lunch and breakfast as well,” he said. “The fact is, if you’re going to do that, you’re going to be covering a lot of students who can actually afford to pay for it. The states who have done this just do everybody.”

Currently, students in families meeting certain income thresholds qualify for federally funded reduced-price lunches.

Kai Weit, a Port Clinton High School junior, said his district made the decision to provide free breakfasts and lunches.

“We need to finish the progress that has already been made in order to consecrate the idea that the right to go to school without feeling hungry isn’t just a prerogative reserved for those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford it,” he said.

Mr. DeWine's budget mandates that Ohio school districts participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which reimburses schools with a certain percentage of low-income students for part of the costs of free meals.

The idea is to draw down as many federal dollars as possible.

“We just believe that this is something that is important to kids,” Port Clinton Schools Superintendent Patrick Adkins said. “It is not a monetary decision for us. It’s the right thing to do for our students. Students who come hungry are not able to learn. We need to take care of their whole needs before their academic needs.”

The district pays about 30 percent of the cost. Mr. Adkins said he would welcome the state picking up the district's share.

The bipartisan Senate Bill 109 would require Ohio to reimburse public and private schools participating in the national school breakfast program for the difference in the cost between the federally funded reduced rate for those eligible as well as the full cost for all others who are not. It would appropriate $300 million a year.

“[Universal meals are] not a cheap thing to do,” Mr. DeWine said. “We’d love to do it, but as we look at the other priorities, frankly, we found that the other priorities were, at least from our point of view, more significant than this one.”

In addition to subsidies for traditional K-12 schools and an expansion of vouchers for private and religious schools, the governor's budget proposal would provide $600 million a year for mental health and other wellness programs in schools as well as funding new or upgraded buses, follow-up care for K-3 students who fail vision screenings, a restoration of driving education in high schools, and literacy coaches.

Mr. DeWine last month put his $91 billion, two-year general fund budget into the hands of lawmakers. The House tentatively plans to send its counter-proposal to the Senate in mid-April.

A final bill must reach the governor’s desk by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30.

Overall, the plan would provide about $8 billion a year to K-12 schools, but a legislative staff analysis shows a total reduction of $103 million in formula-driven basic aid over two years with more than half of Ohio’s 609 school districts facing cuts.

First Published March 4, 2025, 8:53 p.m.