Free and Reduced Price Meals

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers free and reduced-price meals for its National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) to families who qualify, based on its Income Eligibility Guidelines. These guidelines are intended to direct benefits to those children most in need and are revised annually to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

School Food Services Branch (SFSB) encourages Hawaii families to apply for its Free and Reduced Price Meal program by filling out an application at www.EZMealApp.com.

Meal prices vary according by grade level and type of meal:

Please see below for the latest announcements about Hawaii’s Free and Reduced Price Meal program.

CLICK HERE to Apply for the Free and Reduced Price Meal Program at EZMealApp.com

CLICK HERE to View and Deposit into Your Child's Meal Account at EZSchoolPay.com

Families Encouraged to Apply for Free and Reduced Price Meals

Due to the financial changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, School Food Services Branch is encouraging families to apply for the Free and Reduced Price Meal program by filling out an application at www.EZMealApp.com. The online program will guide parents and guardians through an easy step-by-step process.

Applications may be submitted at any time during the school year due to a change in financial status or number of dependents.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), if parents and guardians are eligible for unemployment compensation or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), they may also be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

Children from households with income at or below the USDA’s Income Eligibility Guidelines are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. These guidelines are effective from July 1 through June 30 every year.

Family status is carried forward from the previous year for the first 30 days of the new school year. Thus, families will need to re-apply for their benefits at the beginning of every new school year.

For more information, please check with your child’s school.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

USDA’s Income Eligibility Guidelines for 2020-2021 School Year

Here is the income chart for the 2020-2021 school year:

Creating and Managing Your Child’s Reduced Meals Account Online

Parents and guardians of public school students who have been approved for reduced-price meals are able to conveniently manage, monitor and pay for their child’s school meal account online and through a mobile app. Please follow these steps below:

Visit www.EZSchoolPay.com.
Click the register button.
Enter your email address.
Check your email for a confirmation and follow further directions.

Once you have registered, here are two easy ways to add your child to your account. Enter the:

Student ID number: Enter the child’s last name and student ID number, or
Birth date: Enter the child’s first name, last name and birth date.
Note: District should be pre-populated with “Hawaii-St. of Hawaii Dept of Ed.”

EZSchoolPay is a secure service being offered through Harris School Solutions (eTrition). The new statewide student meal payment system provides the following online uses:

View student meal transactions and account balances.
Add funds securely, conveniently and directly into student meal accounts at any time from the app or online.
Receive automated alert notifications when the account balance drops below a certain amount.
Set recurring automatic payments to ensure accounts are always refilled.

Parents will still have the option of paying with cash or check at their child’s school at no charge and can use EZSchoolPay to check their balance. The EZSchoolPay app is free and accessible on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.