No one will say why school lunch costs Hawaiʻi DOE $9 a plate
Lawmakers have pushed the education department for more details on the costs of running its school meal program.
State officials discuss expansion of free school meals
SB1300 would require the state DOE to appropriate funding for meals for students who come from households classified as “asset limited, income restrained, employed,” (ALICE).
Hawaiʻi sees first school meal reimbursement rate increase in 40 years
A long awaited boost to federal child nutrition program funds announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in February, is now flowing into the state.
Bills to transform Hawaiʻi’s school meals die in Senate
A handful of well- supported bills to transform student meals in Hawaiʻi’s public schools appears to be dead for this legislative session.
USDA raises meal reimbursement rate for Hawaiʻi’s kids
While the new rate is still less than half of what advocates wanted, it’s been met with praise in Hawaiʻi.
State gets more funding for school lunches
Funding will go toward providing healthy meals at Hawaiʻi schools, child care, after-school and summer programs where more than 100,000 children will benefit.
Rate increase will bring in $8 million per year to feed Hawaiʻi’s keiki
These increased rates are projected to bring an additional $8 million a year to Hawaiʻi to support healthy meals for children.
Tap more child nutrition, school-lunch subsidies for isle keiki
The “Feed Our Keiki” report finds that the federal school meal reimbursement rates for Hawaiʻi currently should be 62% higher than other states, but it has been stuck at only 17% higher since 1979.
Fundraising campaign kicks off next week to help fight child hunger
An annual fundraising campaign kicks off next week to help fight child hunger and expand participation in free breakfast programs at public schools.
New sponsors sought as free meals for Hawaiʻi kids drop for summer
Community programs are supplementing the Grab-and-Go program but they too are lagging behind last summer’s participation and may not be enough to meet demand.
Community groups offer free lunch to kids
The grab-and-go meals at a handful of sites around Oʻahu supplement the DOE’s own meal service which began this week while schools are closed.
The crusade to keep Hawaiʻi kids fed this summer
While the Department of Education provides meals on summer school campuses, other efforts are afoot to deliver food to non-school venues.
The Conversation: Increased enrollment in summer school lunch programs
It is an undeniable fact of being human: hunger never takes a holiday. For kids in summer school, being hungry doesn’t take a vacation either.
Number of Hawaiʻi students eating free summer meals increases
More students in Hawaiʻi took advantage of free summer meals last year, according to a national report released this week.
Kudos to schools for more free meals
While there’s a lot more work to be done, congratulations should be offered when deserved. This is one of those moments.