Starting September 1, Texas students who currently qualify for reduced-price school meals will receive both breakfast and lunch for free, thanks to new state funding.
The expansion builds on a previous initiative that changed reduced-price breakfasts into totally free options for students, and extends the benefit through the 2026–2027 school year.
The funding hopes to remove any financial barriers for families providing for their kids, while ensuring more students have access to nutritious meals. State officials, like Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller, say the change could specifically help out households that narrowly missed qualifying for fully free meals in the past, but still struggle to keep up with rising food costs.
“Free and reduced-price school meals will open the door for more children to receive nutritious foods that support academic success. Schools are now accepting household applications for these meals, and I encourage families to submit their applications and ensure their students can enjoy nutritious meals at school,” Miller wrote in a recent statement from the TDA.
Families interested in the program can submit a single household application for free or reduced-price meal eligibility, available online or at school offices and cafeterias. Once processed, schools will notify families if they have been approved for the free meal program.
Campuses already providing meals to all students under the Community Eligibility Provision will not require applications.
The Texas Department of Agriculture, which oversees the state’s administration of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, said parents and guardians can contact their local schools or school boards for additional information on free meals ahead of the 2025–2026 school year.
For perspective, the National School Lunch Program, a federally supported initiative, supplies midday meals to over 3 million children across Texas in both schools and residential child care facilities.
Roughly 5.3 million Texans, about 17.6% of the state’s population, struggle with food insecurity, meaning they lack financial stability or reliable access to enough food. FeedingTexas reports that children in the Lone Star State are especially affected, with an estimated 1.7 million, or 22.2%, living in households that go through hunger or food insecurity consistently.
Overall, Texas has the highest hunger rate in the country, with the Dallas-Fort Worth area ranking third among all U.S. metropolitan regions.