Hunger ‘Cliff’ Looms as Pandemic School-Lunch Aid Is Running Out

Schools and child-feeding sites are bracing for rising costs and supply disruptions as federal meal subsidies run out in weeks.

The food assistance, in the form of Agriculture Department waivers authorized since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, allows schools and child-feeding programs to distribute meals free to kids regardless of family income, and receive federal reimbursement. The waivers expire June 30—barring congressional action to renew them.

“The additional funding has been a huge help,” Gay Anderson, child nutrition coordinator in South Dakota’s Sioux Falls School District, said in a telephone interview. “It’s made a significant difference” in keeping programs ...