PIERRE, S.D.(Press Release) – For school year 2022-23, families who may qualify for free or reduced-price meals will need to submit a free and reduced-price meal application. That’s a change from the past few years when school districts could serve free meals to all students due to COVID-19. Instead, families will do what they did before COVID. Schools will take applications and use family income to qualify students for free, reduced-price, or paid meals.

The South Dakota Department of Education wants families to know about the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, and Child and Adult Care Food Programs. These federally funded programs help to ensure that children from families whose income meets certain guidelines (see chart below) are eligible for free milk or free and reduced-price meals, which are served at participating schools and agencies. A list of participating agencies can be found at http://doe.sd.gov/cans/.

Families may apply for free milk or free and reduced-price meals for their children for school year 2022-23 according to guidelines effective July 1, 2022. Depending upon a family’s circumstances, there are varying ways to gain access to the programs.

To learn more about the programs, families should contact the administrative office of their local school or agency. The income scales below are used to determine an applicant’s eligibility for free or reduced-price meals if the household is at or below the guidelines.

INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

(Effective from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023)