{"id":401753,"date":"2026-08-09T09:28:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/401753\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T09:28:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:28:32","slug":"san-antonio-isd-says-it-will-continue-providing-free-breakfast-lunch-to-all-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/401753\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio ISD says it will continue providing free breakfast, lunch to all students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A child grabs lunch in a public school cafeteria. Credit: Jason Gatell<\/p>\n

San Antonio Independent School District will continue to provide free lunches and breakfasts to all students, district officials said this week.<\/p>\n

The word that SAISD will continue to participate in the federal program comes after other San Antonio-area districts, including North East Independent School District (NEISD), said they would opt out, leaving students without access to free meals.<\/p>\n

SAISD on Tuesday affirmed that it will continue to participate in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP), a federal initiative that offers free breakfast and lunch at campuses where a high concentration of students relies on assistance programs such as Medicaid and SNAP. <\/p>\n

Under this program, a campus qualifies for benefits if at least 25% of its student body uses these assistance programs, and meals become entirely free for the school if the participation rate exceeds 63%. This funding eligibility operates on a four-year cycle, meaning school districts must re-verify the level of need across all campuses at the conclusion of every fourth year.<\/p>\n

CEP eliminates annual meal applications and ensures every student at participating campuses receives free meals, regardless of household income.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll SAISD schools qualify to operate CEP and will serve breakfast and lunch to all children at no charge,\u201d SAISD said in a statement.<\/p>\n

SAISD\u2019s decision to continue to participate in the program comes months after NEISD revealed it wouldn\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n

As fewer families qualified for SNAP under the new federal restrictions, fewer NEISD students were automatically identified as eligible for free meals. That reduced the percentage of students counted toward CEP eligibility, leaving some campuses below the threshold needed to remain in the program during the district\u2019s four-year review, as previously reported by the Express-News<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Students at the affected campuses who don\u2019t qualify for free or reduced-price meals will now pay $1.45 for breakfast. Lunch costs $2.75 for elementary school students and $3.05 for middle and high school students.<\/p>\n

Families seeking free or reduced-price meals must complete the free and reduced-price meals application. The application and a list of CEP-qualifying schools is available on the NEISD and district website. Applications will also be distributed to students the first week of school.<\/p>\n

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