In Pueblo, 75 percent of students in kindergarten through 12th grade qualify for free lunch. Not all of them get it, however.
Colorado high school students who live in poverty have historically been locked out of free meals, but perhaps not for long. Lawmakers have advanced a bill that would make high school students eligible for free lunch. The bill has cleared the state House and the Senate Education Committee and will soon land in the hands of the Appropriations Committee.
The state says it would cost $464,000 to implement the change. Federal officials and the state team to reimburse schools for each lunch they serve. The state gives 40 cents to each school for each free or reduced-cost meal they give a student. Federal reimbursement makes up the rest.
Read the rest of the story at Colorado Public Radio.
