Three Seattle City Councilmembers announced a proposal today to fund universal free school meals for all Seattle Public School students starting this fall, while maintaining new investments aimed at ensuring low-income students have food on their tables at home. The proposal is sponsored by Councilmember and Budget Chair Dan Strauss (District 6), Council President Joy Hollingsworth (District 3), and Councilmember Dionne Foster (Position 9). It would amend the city’s Midyear Supplemental Budget to include funding for universal free school meals starting in the 2026-2027 school year.

“Some investments are just too important not to make. Every kid deserves to eat, whether that’s through universal free school meals or grocery cards for low-income children. We don’t have to choose. Supporting our students is not a zero-sum game. We need to protect our education investments and provide additional food security,” said Councilmember Strauss. 

“My values have been consistent: every child should be able to eat — at school and at home. My proposal for weekend and break meals was intended to be additive to the Universal Meals Program, while safeguarding food investments until we understand the fate of the funding source. I am grateful to Councilmember Strauss for finding a creative solution that allows us to fund weekend meals and Universal Meals during the first year of the FEPP Levy, allowing us to build a sustainable foundation for a citywide meals program,” said Council President Hollingsworth.

“We need both equity and universality — that has always been the goal. Every child in Seattle deserves to have their needs met, whether that is through school lunches or flexible access to meals when school isn’t in session. From the beginning, this was about building a both/and approach. Thanks to creative work over the last several weeks, we’ve been able to find a way to do both Universal meals and double our investment in food access during breaks on the same timeline,” said Councilmember Foster. 

Background

Earlier this week, the City Council adopted an amendment to the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) spending plan that invested in feeding low-income children outside of the classroom during weekends and breaks for the next six years. Due to limited FEPP levy funding, that would have meant the City of Seattle started funding universal free school meals for all Seattle students in the 2027-2028 school year rather than in the 2026-2027 school year, as originally proposed by Mayor Katie Wilson. 

This proposal would do both. It would amend the city’s budget to start universal free school meals this fall, while maintaining the new investments in student food security outside of the classroom. The amendment would fund the program by using funding from the City of Seattle’s general fund. 

Washington State has committed to funding universal free school meals for all public-school students statewide in the future using funds from the Millionaires Tax. That tax is currently being challenged in the courts and will be on the ballot this November, and the availability of those funds is in question. Moving this investment from the limited FEPP Levy to general fund provides more security for the levy’s financial plan and the future of the city’s food investments.  

The initial proposal for universal school meals funded school meals using funding from the FEPP levy’s cost and risk reserve. By using the city’s general fund instead, this will better protect the city’s other levy investments in programs for children and families’ inflation and cost increases.  

What’s next

The City Council’s Finance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee is scheduled to meet on August 4 at 9:30 a.m. to vote on this and other amendments to the Midyear Supplemental Budget

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