Hawaiʻi families could face big price hike for school meals

For example, a family of four making just over $66,300 would have to pay full price for school meals.

Under the proposed prices, a family with two high school students could pay $288 a month for breakfast and lunch, up from $158 right now.

“Food in general already costs a lot for the families in Hawaiʻi,” parent Brooke Akaji wrote in testimony to the Board of Education, pointing out that her children don’t qualify for free school meals. “I understand that I can send my children with home lunch, but that takes a lot of time and planning that I don’t have.”

Some educational advocates say the state should be focusing on making school meals free for all children, instead of on raising prices.

“It feels like an easy, progressive way to support families,” said Daniela Spoto, director of food equity at Hawaiʻi Appleseed.

Based on the current costs for school meals, Appleseed estimates that it would cost the state $15 to $25 million a year to make school meals free for all students.

It’s a relatively small ask when DOE’s overall budget request for the 2025-27 biennium is roughly $4.6 billion, Spoto said. She’s hoping legislative proposals to make meals free in Hawaiʻi will gain more support as awareness grows about how many families struggle to pay for school meals.

BOE Chair Roy Takumi said he would also support making all school meals free if funding from the Legislature comes through. Right now, he added, some students are teased if they can’t afford the full costs of lunch, while others are going without meals.

“Kids who are hungry obviously can’t learn,” he said.