SPOKANE, Wash. — A viewer contacted KXLY Wednesday claiming a former teacher is telling people in Spokane that free school lunches were no longer being given by schools in and around the city.
The false claim is that school districts are submitting invoices to the government for meal reimbursements, but the department that handles reimbursement no longer existed.
The claim was that parents were getting invoiced for the food service instead.
KXLY contacted Spokane Public Schools (SPS) and the Central Valley School District (CVSD) regarding the claims.
SPS explained there have been no changes to school meals.
The school meals program is funded by the federal government, but those funds are managed and distributed by Washington state.
SPS also confirmed the House Ways and Means Committee has proposed increasing the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) percentage to 60%, which would remove a lot of schools and districts from the program.
If the CEP percentage were to increase, SPS would revert back to a previous model, in which families can apply for free or reduced-price, meals based on household income.
CVSD also confirmed the claim was not true saying the district had received a call from a concerned resident Wednesday morning who had heard similar claims.
If your school district’s free meals policy has changed, contact KXLY at news4@kxly.com.
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