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CT governor signs legislation extending state's free school lunch program

Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools helps a young man with his meal served by Food & Child Nutrition Services, Hartford Public Schools at Samuel Valentine Arroyo Recreation Center in Pope Park on March 16, 2020.
Joe Amon
/
Connecticut Public
Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, helps a boy with his meal served by Food & Child Nutrition Services, Hartford Public Schools at Samuel V. Arroyo Recreation Center in Pope Park on March 16, 2020.

Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation Tuesday extending the state’s free school lunch program for all students through the end of the academic year.

The state will shift funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act into the Free Meals for Students program.

Lamont, a Democrat, said the move will ensure that all students in Connecticut have equal access to free lunch, regardless of socioeconomic status.

The funding for the school lunch program was set to expire between last November and February of this year.

State Rep. Gary Turco, a Democrat who represents Newington and New Britain, said he’s proud of Connecticut for stepping up and providing $60 million for all Connecticut school districts.

Turco said that when students are hungry, they can’t learn as well.

“When you have a universal program and you make sure every child eats, it actually helps the lower-income students to ensure they were eating too," Turco said.

He also said participation for lower-income students went up because the program eliminated the stigma some children felt about receiving a free meal.

Lesley Cosme Torres is an Education Reporter at Connecticut Public. She reports on education inequities across the state and also focuses on Connecticut's Hispanic and Latino residents, with a particular focus on the Puerto Rican community. Her coverage spans from LGBTQ+ discrimination in K-12 schools, book ban attempts across CT, student mental health concerns, and more. She reports out of Fairfield county and Hartford.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.