Will government shutdown affect free and reduced lunch at KY schools? What we know
Editor’s note, 2:48 p.m. Oct. 31: In a bench ruling out of Rhode Island Friday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to pay federal nutrition benefits to millions of Americans amid the government shutdown using emergency funds. It wasn’t immediately clear if and when SNAP benefits will proceed.
A federal program that provides school lunches for kindergarten through 12th grade students will continue to operate in November and has not been affected by the federal government shutdown, Kentucky school officials said.
Nearly 600,000 Kentuckians who depend on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program to help pay for groceries will no longer have access to those benefits on Saturday due to the federal government shutdown. Many parents and other SNAP participants have already started to turn to food pantries and other feeding programs for food.
But feeding programs at Kentucky schools, which allow students to get a free or reduced lunch, will continue, said Jennifer Ginn, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education.
“There is funding for November,” Ginn said.
The National School Lunch program is one of the longest-running nutritional assistance programs in the country. It started in 1946, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In Kentucky, 552,673 students qualified for free or reduced lunch during the 2024 school year. The majority of those students qualified under a program called the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows all students at a school access to free lunch based on poverty levels of the school, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
In Fayette County, more than 30,000 students were part of the free lunch program, state data shows. Of the district’s 67 schools, 58 participate through the CEP program.
Miranda Scully, a spokeswoman for Fayette County Public Schools, encouraged people to give to local food banks as the school district faces more kids facing hunger.
“At this time, the free and reduced-price school meal services are not impacted by current federal funding uncertainty. Fayette County Public Schools students will continue to receive this essential service without disruption. We encourage any household facing a temporary drop in income or difficulty putting food on the table to make sure they apply for assistance through our school meal programs.,” Scully said.” The most effective way for the public to help right now is by donating funds, food, or time directly to our core community partners, such as God’s Pantry, FEED Lexington, various local faith communities and organizations listed at https://go.fcps.net/resources. We work closely with these organizations to ensure our families receive essential support they need.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 11:23 AM.
