TUALATIN, Ore. — A growing number of Oregon schools are utilizing government funding to offer universal free meals, and researchers found that the change has led to decreases in disciplinary action like suspensions.
The programs provide free meals for all students, rather than setting up free or reduced lunch offerings for students from low-income households. The researchers said they believe the universal approach led to improved student behavior because it meant that students who received free meals weren't being stigmatized or perceived differently by peers and teachers.
“If you’re getting the meal, and you’re not being kind of identified as kind of a poor student in the school, your footing, kind of social footing is no longer tied in such a direct way to your family's socioeconomic background,” said Thad Domina, a researcher and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina.
Ten schools in the Tigard-Tualatin district now offer free meals for all students, according to district Nutrition Services Manager Kim Leung, and the district has seen a big increase in students who take free lunches in those schools, with one school giving out 100 more lunches daily.
Leung said the hope of the program is to ensure kids are well fed and stigma is reduced for students who eat free lunches.
"I was a participant of free meals back in high school, and the stigma definitely exists," she said, adding that a lot more students will take advantage of the Tigard-Tualatin program because the stigma is "nonexistent."
Universal free meals can also change the way that teachers and other adults in a school think about students, Domina said. In Oregon schools that have added them, the researchers found that suspensions dropped 15-20% — and the decline was most pronounced for kids who would have qualified for free or reduced lunches under non-universal programs.
Universal free meals will also lead to fewer kids being hungry in class, likely leading to less disruptions, Leung said. Tigard-Tualatin hopes to expand the universal free meal program to all schools in the district next year, she added.
A change in the eligibility rules took effect last week, making it easier for more schools to seek government funding — though Leung said there is a concern that easier eligibility could lead to less funding per school. The district is hoping the expanded eligibility will me matched with more government funding to make sure schools can offer meals to as many students as possible, she said.