One step forward, a few meals short

Last year’s legislative session brought real progress on one of Hawaiʻi’s most persistent challenges: keiki hunger. With support from the Governor, First Lady, key lawmakers, and community leaders, the state expanded free school meal eligibility to many families earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL)—a meaningful step that will reach thousands more keiki across the islands in the upcoming school year. 

While the passing of Act 139 (2025) was a meaningful step toward free school meals, it was just that—a step. The advocates, educators, and community members who showed up and fought for universal meals know the work is not finished.

When access to a meal depends on hitting the right income number, completing the right form, or attending the right type of school, the system is still failing. Hawaiʻi's keiki deserve more than a step, they deserve the end goal: universal free school meals.

Who’s Still Being Left Out?

1. Kids Just Over the Line: Starting next school year, a family of four earning less than $110,940 will qualify for free lunch—a tremendous improvement. While Act 139 pushed the needle, and will now include many more families, the hard income cutoff creates a cliff that will still leave many ALICE families behind. Because ALICE households often have incomes that fall right around that threshold, even a small change in income could suddenly mean the difference between qualifying for free meals and bearing their full cost. 

2. Public Charter School Students: While public charter schools are funded through a different mechanism than the Hawaiʻi Department of Education’s (HIDOE) 276 traditional public schools, they are still a part of our public education system. Unfortunately, these schools were not included in the passage of Act 139. A public charter school family of four earning $47,000 a year will still be paying for their child's lunch, even as they struggle to meet a cost of living that demands over $107,000 annually just to survive. Universal meals would take that burden off their plate.

   This matters especially because of who charter schools serve. Across Hawaiʻi, public charter schools serve the largest percentage of Native Hawaiian students in the public school system—that is 14 percent more than HIDOE schools. Many of these schools have made it part of their mission to incorporate local and canoe crops into their meals, turning lunch time into a meaningful cultural and educational opportunity. Yet these same schools have to shoulder the remaining costs of meal programs on their own dime. This brings the concept that “school meals are an essential school supply” into sharp focus. 

3. Kids Who Fall Through the Cracks: Even for families who do qualify under the new 300 percent FPL requirement, the path to a free meal is not guaranteed. It runs through a form. The problem is not always eligibility, but the process and paperwork itself. Language barriers, problems providing income records, and fear of disclosing information can prevent families from completing or accurately completing the school meal application.

   In fact, a national study found that up to 34 percent of students who were denied free or reduced-price meals were actually eligible to receive them. Universal free school meals would eliminate the need for intricate documentation on parent income levels, ultimately removing a barrier for families that are already stretched thin.

Let’s Finish the Job

Last year’s wins for school meals showed us what is possible: with sustained community advocacy, change can happen. But the real progress isn’t complete until all children in Hawaiʻi schools—regardless of income level, school type, or family circumstance—can walk into the cafeteria and be confident they’ll get a healthy meal.

House Bill 1779 (2026) would move Hawaiʻi closer to truly universal free school meals, ensuring that every public school student can count on breakfast and lunch every day without stigma, paperwork, or fear of falling through the cracks.

Hawaiʻi has taken the first few steps—now it is time to finish what we started.