There’s About To Be An Awful New Consequence Of The Shutdown

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As the government shutdown continues, government agencies like the Social Security Administration and programs like Medicaid have been fielding questions about whether the money that Americans rely on will continue to flow.

Thankfully, for many families, one piece of the puzzle has so far not been in question. School districts around the country have put out messages reassuring families that the National School Lunch Program, which provides low-cost or free nutritious meals to schoolchildren, will continue — for now.

November will be a different story.

More than 700,000 federal workers have been sent home while the government has ceased operations. Among them are some 43,000-plus workers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the country’s school nutrition programs. Typically, school districts pay for school lunches and then are reimbursed by the government. But without a funding agreement, the government isn’t able to spend money on many programs it normally funds, like school lunches.

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In its shutdown contingency plan, USDA says funds for school lunches are available through October. But advocates say it’s unclear what happens next month.

“If schools aren’t getting reimbursed, the reality is they might not be able to continue these programs,” Clarissa Hayes, the deputy director of the child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research and Action Center, told HuffPost.

The government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, has no clear end in sight as Democrats and Republicans engage in a standoff over cuts to health care. Neither side has a particular reason to fold: Democrats are still dealing with the political backlash from the last time they agreed to a Republican budget bill without demanding concessions, while Republicans are using the opportunity to pursue government cuts on their agenda. But as the government remains in stasis, how to feed hungry kids becomes a pressing question.

“Not all schools can keep their programs afloat. October feels safe. November is a big question mark,” Hayes told HuffPost.

To make matters more complicated, some schools were already short of funds. “We had heard from several State agencies that didn’t have adequate funding to cover October’s meals,” Diane Pratt-Heavner, the director of communications at the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit that represents the professionals who provide school meals, said in an emailed statement to HuffPost. After those states reached out to SNA for help, the organization was able to get USDA funding for them.

School lunches are a critical lifeline for kids and their families. There is ample evidence that school lunches are an important resource and that well-fed kids perform better academically, enjoy better mental health and have fewer behavioral issues.

School lunches are particularly crucial for students from families dealing with food insecurity — according to SNA, around 1 in 5 American children live in households “without consistent access to adequate food.” Reliable, school-provided meals can be a vital resource for kids who otherwise struggle to get enough food or food that meets their nutritional needs.

Hayes doesn’t anticipate the complete cancellation of meals. “Schools won’t completely end their food service,” she said. “But maybe they will streamline their menus and have fewer offerings.” More limited options could also mean a more limited benefit: For some children, school meals are the only nutritious meals they receive each day.

Experts say there are some options for schools, should reimbursements get delayed, as the shutdown drags on. Districts can pull funds from other programs that maybe don’t need to be funded right away or rely on state agencies for resources. But that’s easier said than done.

“In districts that have fewer resources, especially in rural areas, it could be a significant challenge as to where they can find more resources,” Weadé James, the senior director of K-12 policy at the Center for American Progress, told HuffPost. “Every district doesn’t have the luxury of having those reserves.”

Rural schools have unique funding challenges due to factors like a smaller tax base and lower student enrollment increasing the cost per pupil to keep a school open. While schools get funding based on the number of pupils they enroll, many overhead costs, like staff salaries and utility services, remain the same no matter how many students are in the building.

About 20% of K-12 public school students in the U.S. attend rural schools, according to CAP, and nearly half of those students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. As of 2022, 17% of all rural school students — 1.7 million — attended “high poverty” schools, where more than 75% of students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Partnering with food banks is another option, James said. “But food banks are stretched thin, too.”

The threats to school lunch come at a time when there’s a broader fear of food insecurity around the country. Earlier this year, the Trump administration cut $500 million in USDA grants that typically went to support food banks. It also ended a pandemic-era program that partnered schools with local farms to provide free meals.

Then there’s the fact that the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill also calls for drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, colloquially known as food stamps, meaning there may soon be an influx of more people who need food banks to make ends meet.

“It’s a perfect storm,” Hayes said. “There are historic cuts to SNAP coming. Food banks are getting a lot more people.” Local governments are also preparing for a surge of federal workers using food banks to help feed their families as they go without a paycheck.

Schools could also look to local farms for help with supplemental school lunch, but the entire agriculture industry has been suffering from Trump’s policies. “It’s going to make it even more difficult for school districts to partner with local farms when that industry itself is struggling,” James said.

A lot of the uncertainty facing the school lunch programs could be solved, of course, by Congress passing a funding bill and reopening the government. But there’s little sign that lawmakers are close to doing that.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has already said that this could be the longest government shutdown in history, surpassing the previous longest, the 35-day shutdown that ran from late 2018 to early 2019. During that closure, there was no disruption to school lunches because the USDA had back-up funding ready to go.

But this Trump term has been significantly different. The administration has spent the last nine months trampling norms, bucking tradition and illegally withholding funds.

It wouldn’t be the first time public schools are left to scramble under the Trump administration. In June, the federal government sent letters to every state notifying them that the Department of Education would be freezing $7 billion in funds to public schools while it ensured that schools were complying with Trump’s mandates. The freeze sent schools into a panic, unsure if they’d have to lay off staff or cut critical programs for students. After an outcry and legal threats, the administration released the funds.

During this shutdown, Trump has made sure his priorities, like immigration enforcement and trade policies, can continue despite the funding lapse. But there’s no sign that USDA and its food programs fall under that umbrella.

Right now, the uncertainty is the only sure thing. “The question is, what happens if [the shutdown] continues through November?” Hayes said. “Many of us aren’t quite sure.”

It’s a hard pill to swallow. And it may be the only thing some kids are getting.