Students at Wainwright Elementary School in Houston ISD eat their meals provided by the school on Nov. 3, 2025.

During the next school year, thousands of Houston ISD students across 33 campuses will no longer automatically receive free breakfast and lunch, according to the district.

The district announced the changes this week and said the campuses would no longer be participating in the Community Eligibility Provision Program (CEP) — a federal initiative created in 2010 to provide students with free meals on a schoolwide basis, rather than on an individual student basis.

Families can still apply on a household level for their children to receive free or reduced-priced meals if their school is no longer participating in CEP. Details about the household eligibility requirements can be found on the Texas Department of Agriculture's Square Meals website.

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For schools to qualify for CEP, at least 25% of a campus' student population must be participating in government assistance programs — such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — or be categorized as a foster child, unhoused, a migrant, a runaway child or enrolled in Head Start, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Campuses where between 25% and 62.4% of students meet these requirements receive partial free-meal allocations based on their percentage of qualifying students. Campuses where at least 62.5% of students qualify receive a reimbursement for all meals.

A CEP slider tool provided by the USDA.

For example, if 25% of a campus' population meets the requirements, then that campus will receive 40% of its meals at a "free rate," according to the USDA. Likewise, if 62.4% of a campus' population is eligible, then that campus will receive 99.8% of its meals at a "free rate."

All students at CEP-participating schools receive their meals for free, and parents are not responsible for their children's meals, according to the USDA. It is up to the participating schools and their districts to pay for any meals not covered by the free rate.

In a statement to Houston Public Media on Wednesday, a district spokesperson said the 33 districts were no longer eligible to participate in CEP.

“For the 2026-2027 school year, 33 HISD campuses do not meet the federal requirements to participate in CEP and therefore must return to the standard meal application process,” the spokesperson said. “This determination is based on federal program guidelines and is not a discretionary decision by the district.”

According to the district's website, the majority of its roughly 260 campuses are still participating in CEP for the upcoming school year.

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According to data from the Texas Education Agency from the 2024-25 school year, 21 of the 33 campuses had a student population in which at least 25% were considered "economically disadvantaged," meaning they qualify individually for free meals and likely qualify for some form of government assistance. Three of the 33 campuses had a student population in which more than 62.4% of students were considered "economically disadvantaged.”

Being considered economically disadvantaged does not automatically mean the student's household has enrolled in any assistance programs, and recent changes at the federal level have made it more difficult for families to apply for and maintain such benefits, like SNAP.

Houston ISD’s announcement comes after Congress expanded work requirements for SNAP beneficiaries as part of the Republican-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which passed largely along party lines. This has led to a drop in SNAP participation, with 500,000 fewer Texans enrolling compared to last year.

Here are the Houston ISD campuses that will no longer offer free meals to every student:

• Baker Montessori
• Briarmeadow Charter School
• Bush Elementary
• Condit Elementary
• Harvard Elementary
• Helms Elementary
• Horn Elementary
• Kolter Elementary
• Mandarin Immersion Magnet School
• Oak Forest Elementary
• Poe Elementary
• River Oaks Elementary
• Roberts Elementary
• Sinclair Elementary
• Travis Elementary
• Twain Elementary
• West University Elementary
• Wharton Elementary
• Hogg Middle School
• Lanier Middle School
• Pin Oak Middle School
• TH Rogers Middle School
• Bellaire High School
• Carnegie Vanguard High School
• Challenge High School
• DeBakey High School for Health Professions
• Energy Institute High School
• Heights High School
• Houston Academy for International Studies
• Kinder HSPVA
• Lamar High School
• Waltrip High School
• Westside High School

Editor’s note: This article was updated on June 3 to include a statement from Houston ISD received after publication.