Connecticut schools resumed free lunch on March 1st, 2023, after Connecticut Governor, Ned Lamont, passed a bill to instantly reinstate free lunch for schools in the National School Lunch Program. The free lunch program enables families who struggle with the expenses of paid lunch to have school lunches. Free lunches were originally discontinued on December 1st, 2022 after funnds were exhausted, and now that COVID-19 has died down and funding is available again, it is brought back.

Emily Doering, the Watertown Public Schools food service director, notes how serving lunches to all students who need it will allow them to perform better in classes because, “To do well in school, you have to have food.”  Ms. Doering mentions how this opportunity is expanded from breakfast and lunch, giving students a chance to have the average amount of meals needed. She and many students in Connecticut schools, hope for the free lunch to continue into next year to fight off the challenges paid lunch brings to families.