Thursday, January 23, 2025

More than a Quarter of Public Schools Now Offer All Students Free School Meals

 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today the latest round of findings from the School Pulse Panel (SPP). These SPP data examine school meals programs, physical education programming, arts education programming, and National Parks Service education programming, as reported by school leaders in U.S. public schools. All data can be found on the SPP interactive dashboard. Below is a summary of some key findings from this release.

Key Findings 

Food and Nutrition 

  • Of public schools, 29 percent operate a school meal program through a state or local initiative that offers all students free lunches and/or breakfasts, an increase from 21 percent in October 2022. 
  • Of public schools, 91 percent reported participating in USDA meal programs for the 2024–25 school year (92 percent participated in 2023–24; 88 percent participated in 2022–23). Meanwhile, 4 percent of public schools reported that students could buy meals at school but not as part of the USDA school meal program. 
  • Of schools that provide meals to students, 67 percent collected household applications for free- or reduced-price school meals for the 2024–25 school year. 
  • Of the 95 percent of public schools that provided a school meal program to students at their school, the top challenges they reported in operating their school meal programs for the 2024–25 school year were:  
    • Convincing parents to submit applications for free- or-reduced price meals (39 percent of all schools) 
      • Among the 67 percent of schools that reported they collected household applications for free- or reduced-price school meals, 55 percent reported a challenge convincing parents to submit applications for free- or-reduced price meals. 
    • School food service staff shortages (38 percent of all schools). 

Physical Education Programming 

  • Of public schools, 19 percent have a written plan (sometimes referred to as a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program) for providing opportunities for students to be physically active before, during, and after school.  
  • Of public schools, 78 percent have a dedicated budget for physical education materials and equipment. 
    • Compared to the national percentage (78 percent), a higher percentage of schools have a dedicated budget for physical education materials in schools in the Northeast (93 percent), with 1,000 or more students (88 percent), with 500–999 students (87 percent), in suburban areas (84 percent), and with a student body made up of less than 25 percent students of color (84 percent). 
    • Compared to the national percentage (78 percent), a lower percentage of schools have a dedicated budget for physical education materials in schools with fewer than 300 students (65 percent), in high-poverty neighborhoods (70 percent), in the West (70 percent), and with a student body made up of greater than 75 percent students of color (71 percent). 
  • Of public schools, 92 percent have a physical education course taught in all grades with enrolled students, and 97 percent have a physical education course taught in at least one grade. 
    • Compared to the national percentage (92 percent), a higher percentage of schools have a physical education course taught in all grades with enrolled students in the Northeast (98 percent), with 300–499 students (97 percent), and in elementary schools (96 percent). 
    • Compared to the national percentage (92 percent), a lower percentage of schools have a physical education course taught in all grades with enrolled students in high/secondary schools (82 percent), in the West (85 percent), and with fewer than 300 students (85 percent). 
  • Of public schools, 71 percent  reported teachers at their school incorporate physical activity in their classes during the school day, outside of physical education courses. 
  • Of public schools, 85 percent offer opportunities for students to be physically active during the school day, outside of physical education courses and classroom physical activity. 

Arts Education Programming 

  • Of public schools, 73 percent require students at their school to take at least one music, visual arts, media arts, dance, or drama/theater (performing or visual arts) class while enrolled at their school. 
  • Of public school leaders, 55 percent reported that support for arts instruction at their school including funding, facilities, materials, equipment, tools, and instruments were adequate and 21 percent reported these supports were inadequate. 
    • Compared to the national percentage (55 percent), a higher percentage of school leaders reported that supports were adequate in schools with 1,000 or more students (74 percent), in the Northeast (67 percent) and with a student body made up of less than 25 percent students of color (63 percent). 
    • Compared to the national percentage (55 percent), a lower percentage of school leaders reported that supports were adequate in cities (46 percent) and the West (46 percent). 
  • The list below displays the percentages of public schools with standalone performing or visual arts classes taught during the regular school day during the 2024–25 school year.
    • Music – 84 percent
    • Visual arts (e.g., painting, drawing, sketching, ceramics, pottery, textiles) – 82 percent
    • Media arts (e.g., film, photography, audio/video, computer digital arts) – 42 percent
    • Drama/theater – 26 percent
    • Dance – 13 percent
    • Three or more standalone performing or visual arts class types – 43 percent
    • No standalone class in music, visual arts, media arts, dance, or drama/theater – 7 percent
  • Of public schools, 79 percent report providing one or more arts instruction activities outside of the regular school day during the 2024–25 school year. 

NPS Education Programming  

  • Of public schools, 35 percent will or have participated in one or more of the following NPS programs during the 2024–25 school year: 
    • Field trip to an NPS location such as a national park or a national historic site with a ranger-led program (13 percent) 
    • NPS online resources/materials such as, live webcams, lesson plans, and resource kits (10 percent) 
    • Self-guided field trip to NPS location such as national parks and national historic sites (8 percent) 
    • NPS ranger visiting classrooms at the school (6 percent) 
    • Online, interactive distance learning with an NPS ranger (5 percent) 
    • NPS pre-recorded online lessons (3 percent) 
  • Public schools reported interest in the following NPS educational programs for their school: 
    • NPS ranger visiting classrooms at the school (92 percent) 
    • NPS online resources/materials such as, live webcams, lesson plans, and resource kits (91 percent) 
    • Field trip to an NPS location such as a national park or a national historic site with a ranger-led program (90 percent) 
    • Online, interactive distance learning with an NPS ranger (88 percent) 
    • NPS pre-recorded online lessons (81 percent) 
    • Self-guided field trip to NPS location such as national parks and national historic sites (78 percent) 

Daily Attendance 

  • The average daily student attendance at public schools during this month’s collection window as reported by school leaders was 92 percent.  

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