Vermont Governor Phill Scott has finally allowed a bill to become law, which will provide free school meals to all students regardless of their family income.
Rep. Erin Brady, a high school teacher and lead sponsor of this bill, says that by opening access to school meals to everyone, the stigma associated with free meals will finally subside:
"We don't charge different rates for if you could have afforded your own laptop, we don't charge different rates for if your bus route is longer. So any ways that we can really help students just see themselves in community and not comparing with others, is really important, particularly for adolescents."
Vermont legislature extended access to free meals for one year after federal pandemic funding ended. Schools have been pushing state legislators to make Universal School Meals permanent after seeing the amazing uptick in school meal participation.
