2026 SESSION
ENROLLED
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 267
Commending Community Eligibility Provision schools in Virginia.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 12, 2026
Agreed to by the Senate, March 13, 2026
WHEREAS, schools across the Commonwealth have adopted the Community Eligibility Provision to ensure that all school children have access to nutritious meals that support their health, well-being, and ability to achieve academic success; and
WHEREAS, the Community Eligibility Provision, a non-pricing meal service option funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, allows eligible schools to serve breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students at no cost, increasing food security and improving academic outcomes; and
WHEREAS, the Community Eligibility Provision supports schools by eliminating the need to collect paper meal applications, reducing administrative costs, and streamlining meal service operations; and
WHEREAS, Virginia enacted legislation to promote participation in the Community Eligibility Provision in 2020 and expanded access to no-cost school meals by fully covering the reduced price copay for eligible students in 2022; and
WHEREAS, participation in the Community Eligibility Provision has expanded substantially in the Commonwealth's public schools over the past five years, with twice as many individual schools (1,238) and 60 percent more school divisions (117) participating, resulting in a tripling of the number of students (more than 700,000) attending a participating school; and