Baltimore County sees sharp rise in children who qualify for free lunches

A key gauge of family poverty, children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals in public schools, is skyrocketing in Baltimore County. Roughly 66% of the children in the county school system currently qualify for either free or reduced-price meals, according to statistics on the school system’s website. That’s up from about 44% just five years ago. Advocates say it shows that more families in the county are struggling and that school meals should be free for all children. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, all public-school children across the country were offered free meals. The federal government ended that program last summer. Now families have to apply for free and reduced-price meals.