Five days a week, when class is in session, students in the Tolleson Elementary School District in Arizona can count on a free hot meal to get them through the day.
On a Thursday morning in early August, cafeteria workers prepared steamed vegetables, stirred spaghetti meat sauce, and warmed up bread rolls to help feed nearly 700 growing students at Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School. The school is one of four in TESD.
In 2022, TESD was approved for the Community Eligibility Provision program. The federal program helps provide free breakfast and lunch for school districts in low-income areas like TESD, where the program helps feed all 2,845 students enrolled in school.
The first lunch group lined up just before 11 a.m., and Linda Rubalcaba was ready with a clipboard, carefully counting every student who lined up and grabbed lunch.
Rubalcaba knows her way around a school cafeteria – she’s spent 38 years of her life working in school kitchens. She said she briefly retired, then decided to make a comeback.
Rubalcaba views free school meals as a weight lifted off her shoulder and a pathway to help feed kids and keep them healthy. Before the CEP program, Rubalcaba said it was tough telling kids all she could offer them was a sandwich because of meal debt.
“It was hectic because we had to send charge letters to parents all the time,” Rubalcaba said.
She recalled kids telling her their mom or dad was out of a job or couldn’t afford their lunch. “Sometimes I would pay out of my pocket and let them eat,” Rubalcaba said.
Tolleson is home to 7,173 residents, and roughly 22% are living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a rate that exceeds the 20% high poverty threshold.
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“Both families and educators are saying food is expensive right now, inflation is high, they’re so grateful,” said Dr. Lupita Hightower, Tolleson School District superintendent. She calls the CEP program a blessing.
School lunches in elementary schools typically cost $2.83, and in high schools about $3.05, according to the School Nutrition Association.
Melissa Acosta, the TESD dining services director, sat next to her daughter during her lunch break. “Throughout the week that adds up,” she said as she pointed out the cost of meals for families who do not live in a school district with free meals.
Low-cost or free lunches for low-income students go back decades and have expanded over the years. Currently eight states including California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont have passed state laws allowing schools to serve meals at no cost to students regardless of income, and for the first time in Arizona history, this year the legislature included school meals in the state’s budget.
Rubalcaba said since the school district began offering free lunch, they have seen a positive shift in the cafeteria culture, and students seem happier.
“We think that this is so critical because there is so much money invested in education, but if students are too hungry to focus or pay attention or really benefit from those investments, it’s a loss,” Alexis Bylander, Food Research & Action Center senior child nutrition policy analyst said.
A study by the University of Washington found free meals at school help reduce hunger, reduce the stigma tied to free lunch, and can help reduce childhood obesity.
At the height of the pandemic the United States Department of Agriculture approved a nationwide waiver that allowed schools to provide students with free lunch.
“Over those two years, a lot of students, teachers, families, and administrators realized that they never wanted to go back to a system of charging students’ different prices for the same meal,” Bylander said.
In September of 2023, the USDA announced they would be expanding the CEP program. The department loosened up its application threshold for applicants, allowing an estimated 3,000 more school districts in high-need areas to participate in the program.
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At Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School students are served lemon-infused water, they have a salad bar available, and the kitchen takes meal suggestions. The menu also includes tamales for Christmas, and pozole. Some students also qualify for a free dinner after school, and snacks.
