Breakfast is free this year in PA schools. How much do Centre County students pay for lunch?
As students head back into class, there’s one less thing parents need to prepare in the mornings — breakfast. In early August, the Pennsylvania legislature passed the state budget, which included a program to provide all 1.7 million students access to free breakfast.
The $46.5 million program will also cover the remaining costs of meals for students eligible for reduced cost lunches across the state.
The announcement comes one year after the loss of federal lunch waivers, which prompted Bellefonte and State College Area school districts to cover the costs for breakfasts and reduced price lunches for the 2022-2023 school year.
Regular school lunches in Centre County school districts cost anywhere from $2.50-$3.55, and vary by grade level and district. Earlier this month, Bald Eagle Area school board voted to raise meal prices for students, increasing prices for lunch at the elementary level by $0.20 and prices at the secondary level by $0.25.
This year Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District is under a Community Eligibility Provision, which provides free breakfasts and lunches to all students in low-income districts. The CEP program reimburses schools based on the percentage of students eligible for free meals. The program allows districts to serve free meals to all students without collecting free or reduced meal applications.
Students in other districts are eligible for free lunch based on household size and annual household income. Families can apply for the program at any point during the year and applications can be found on district websites.
Below is the cost of school lunches at each district.
Bald Eagle Area
Elementary: $2.50
Middle: $2.75
High: $2.75
Bellefonte Area
Elementary: $2.50
Middle: $2.50
High: $2.80
Penns Valley Area
Elementary: $2.50
Middle: $2.50
High: $2.80
Philipsburg-Osceola Area
All meals are free under a Community Eligibility Provision, which provides free breakfasts and lunches to all students in low-income districts.
State College Area
Elementary: $2.75
Middle: $3.00
High: $3.55