{"id":14229,"date":"2025-07-31T11:31:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=14229"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:10:07","slug":"2025-hidoe-announces-school-meal-price-updates-for-new-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/2025-hidoe-announces-school-meal-price-updates-for-new-school-year\/","title":{"rendered":"HIDOE announces school meal price updates for new school year"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONOLULU \u2014 Starting in the 2025-26 school year, the Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Education (HIDOE) will implement changes to school meal pricing, including expanded access to free meals for more students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Act 139<\/a> (Session Laws of Hawai\u02bbi 2025), students who qualify for reduced-price meals will now receive one free breakfast and one free lunch each school day. This means no cost for qualifying students, helping to ensure more students have access to nutritious meals to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe thank Gov. Josh Green and our legislators for prioritizing student well-being,\u201d Superintendent Keith Hayashi said, noting the critical support of Senate Education Chair Michelle Kidani who introduced the measure. \u201cRemoving the cost for reduced-price meals ensures more students are fed, focused and ready to learn \u2014 no matter their family\u2019s financial situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 11,000 students qualified for reduced-price meals last school year, who would be free this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a mother and grandmother, I have seen firsthand how hunger affects a child\u2019s ability to focus and learn,\u201d Senate Vice President and Education Committee Chair Michelle Kidani said. \u201cI still remember visiting classrooms in my district where teachers kept granola bars or crackers in their desks, just in case a student came to school without breakfast. This bill is about more than food \u2014 it\u2019s about dignity, equity, and ensuring every child has a fair chance to succeed. Well-nourished students learn better, and I am proud to have authored this bill.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only price increases for the upcoming year apply to second meals for students and adult meals. Prices for all other items, including standard student meals and \u00e0 la carte items, will remain unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students will still be categorized as \u201creduced-price eligible\u201d under federal guidelines, but at the point of service, their meals will now be marked as \u201cReduced \u2013 No Charge.\u201dFamilies are encouraged to apply for Free or Reduced-Price Meal Benefits to determine eligibility and take advantage of this new benefit. Applications and program details are available on the HIDOE website at https:\/\/go.hidoe.us\/FRPM<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School Year 2025-26 Meal Prices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e40\u0e20\u0e17\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e28\u0e36\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32<\/th>\u0e23\u0e32\u0e04\u0e32<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
\u0e2d\u0e32\u0e2b\u0e32\u0e23\u0e40\u0e0a\u0e49\u0e32<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e30\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e16\u0e21\u0e28\u0e36\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32 (PreK-8)<\/td>$1.10<\/td><\/tr>
\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e30\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e21\u0e31\u0e18\u0e22\u0e21\u0e28\u0e36\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32\u0e15\u0e2d\u0e19\u0e1b\u0e25\u0e32\u0e22 (\u0e21.3-\u0e21.6)<\/td>$1.10<\/td><\/tr>
\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e25\u0e14\u0e23\u0e32\u0e04\u0e32 <\/strong>(PreK-12)<\/strong><\/td>*No Charge<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Free student (PreK-12)<\/td>No Charge<\/td><\/tr>
Student second meal<\/strong><\/td>*$3.50<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Adult meal<\/strong><\/td>*$3.50<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
\u0e2d\u0e32\u0e2b\u0e32\u0e23\u0e01\u0e25\u0e32\u0e07\u0e27\u0e31\u0e19<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e30\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e16\u0e21\u0e28\u0e36\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32 (PreK-8)<\/td>$2.50<\/td><\/tr>
\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e30\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e21\u0e31\u0e18\u0e22\u0e21\u0e28\u0e36\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32\u0e15\u0e2d\u0e19\u0e1b\u0e25\u0e32\u0e22 (\u0e21.3-\u0e21.6)<\/td>$2.75<\/td><\/tr>
\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e25\u0e14\u0e23\u0e32\u0e04\u0e32 <\/strong>(PreK-12)<\/strong><\/td>*No Charge<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Free student (PreK-12)<\/td>No Charge<\/td><\/tr>
\u0e2d\u0e32\u0e2b\u0e32\u0e23\u0e08\u0e32\u0e19\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e31\u0e01<\/td>$2.25<\/td><\/tr>
Student second meal<\/strong><\/td>*$7.50<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Adult meal<\/strong><\/td>*$7.50<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

*Bolded items represent meal price changes.
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HONOLULU \u2014 Starting in the 2025-26 school year, the Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Education (HIDOE) will implement changes to school meal pricing, including expanded access to free meals for more students. Under Act 139 (Session Laws of Hawai\u02bbi 2025), students who qualify for reduced-price meals will now receive one free breakfast and one free lunch […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"16234,9389,16922,9834,10146,16623","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Koko-Head-El.-Lunch-1-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Stanley Lee","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/author\/stanley-leek12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":305,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":305,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 05:05:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}