North Carolina district racks up deficit over free meal program

So-called free school meals are only free if they’ve received previous funding – which can fail to cover costs if expenses rise, a North Carolina district announced at a school board meeting last week.

Carolyn Pennington, director of the Nash County Public Schools school nutrition program, explained the program had received 100% of its funding from the Federal School Nutrition Fund Balance “to offset deficit spending for the 2024-25 school year,” the Rocky Mount Telegram reported.

“No local funds or tax dollars were used to cover the deficit,” Pennington said at the committee meeting.

Failing refrigeration equipment contributed to the shortfall, incurring about $300,000 in expenses, according to the article.

“As for the drop in funds, Pennington pointed to the loss of revenue now that some students no longer have to pay for school lunches, a loss of $278,358; and the loss of revenue from a la carte food sales, a loss of $95,151.”

The program started in the 2024-25 academic year after the district said all students qualified for free lunches and breakfasts under the Community Eligibility Provision.

However, higher expenses combined with lower revenue caused the district to use $773,242 from the program’s fund balance, said Angela Miller, the school system’s special assistant of auxiliary services.

“‘Increased salary expenses, increased costs of food, supplies and kitchen equipment paired with a decrease in student enrollment and 8 percent of meals being reimbursed at the paid rate of 53 cents per meal (about $4 per meal less than full funding)’ all contributed to the deficit, Miller summarized.”

Additionally, fewer students are enrolled in the district after a demerger causing “some students living on the Edgecombe County side of Rocky Mount” to be registered under Edgecombe County Public Schools, the article explained.

National funding woes over meal programs

Other districts in North Carolina and nationwide have experienced challenges in paying for free school meals.

In one example, Henderson County Public Schools discontinued a universal free breakfast program for the 2025-26 academic year, which had served almost 13,000 students across 23 schools.

“Federal reimbursement rates have not kept up with labor costs or food prices,” Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Scott Rhodes said when announcing the program’s end.

Other states, including Colorado and Michigan, have lost money over financing such meals.

These programs have often drawn criticism over structural inefficiencies and waste. For example, more than half of meal costs stem from administrative services, facilities and other non-food expenses.

One 2020 study concluded school lunches at more than $2 per meal incurred higher expenses, compared to the median cost of $1.55 for homemade ones.

Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers pay as much as $9.7 million each day to manage school food waste – amounting to 530,000 tons each year, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Such programs also raise concerns from parents who argue schools should focus primarily on academics, not food.

“We’ve seen that happen during the (COVID-19) pandemic where a lot of schools were saying, especially in Detroit, ‘Oh, let’s feed children, let’s get them food,’” said Detroit mom and homeschool advocate Bernita Bradley, who had previously enrolled her daughter in public school.

“But there was no education happening, and parents were saying, ‘Look, I can feed my child. I need you to jump on a class with my child and make sure my child is actually learning.’”