Cheshire board members told Representative Linehan that federal income thresholds for free and reduced-price school meals exclude many families who still struggle with the local cost of living and that unpaid meal balances in the district have risen sharply.

Board members said federal thresholds for a family of four — described during the meeting as roughly $40,560 for free meals and $57,720 for reduced-price status — leave many households ineligible. District officials reported unpaid meal balances rose from typical year-end highs near $4,000 in the past to about $20,000 last year and are pacing near that amount this year.

Representative Linehan described a proposal she is advancing that would ask the state to fund a gap between federal eligibility and local need using ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) measures from United Way. The idea under discussion is a partial state-local funding split (the meeting referenced a possible 75/25 split) to let local boards opt in and cover more families whose incomes meet community-specific ALICE thresholds.

Why this matters: board members said higher unpaid balances indicate more families fall through the federal net and asked the delegation for help narrowing that gap. Linehan said fully universal free meals are not economically feasible now but that a targeted ALICE-based approach — paired with local opt-in and fundraising — might advance faster.

Representative Linehan said she expects school-meals bills to be raised in committees and urged Cheshire to provide testimony and data to lawmakers to support any change.

Ending: The district plans to coordinate with the delegation and provide local data and testimony if committees take up school-meals legislation.