Tulsa-area schools say OSDE's lunch funding mandate comes with hefty price tag

Your kids deserve healthy meals to fuel their minds and bodies—period. As State Superintendent, I’m done with the excuses and bureaucratic bloat that’s been robbing Oklahoma families blind. Starting in the 2025/2026 school year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) will force every school district to fully fund student meals using existing state and federal dollars. No more triple-taxing parents to cover lunches while administrators pad their paychecks. This is about your kids, not their egos.
Last year, Oklahoma schools got over $250 million in federal funds and $75 million from state sources like property taxes to feed our students. Yet, families were still hit with a $42 million lunch bill—on top of taxes—while administrative salaries skyrocketed by 14%, totaling nearly a billion dollars in 2023. “Oklahoma parents are being fleeced to fund bureaucrats’ raises while kids go hungry,” said Superintendent Ryan Walters. “If administrators can’t put your children first, they can find the door.”
This isn’t just mismanagement; it’s a disgrace. Over $200 million went to administrative costs last year, and over the past decade, those salaries have ballooned by an average of 7% annually. Meanwhile, families paid a $42 million shortfall for meals. If districts cut their bloated administrative budgets by just over 6%, they’d cover that shortfall and feed every kid without charging parents a dime. Big government and administrative overreach—the Left’s favorite playbook—have failed our students. I’m putting an end to it.
Here’s what OSDE is doing to fix this mess:
● Full Meal Funding Mandate: Every district must include a line item in their budget to fully fund school meals using existing funds.
● Budget Oversight: If districts refuse, OSDE will review their budgets and demand administrative cost cuts to prioritize kids.
● Accountability: Districts that still won’t comply will face a full financial audit. No more hiding behind excuses.
Beyond funding, we’re raising the bar for healthy schools with new MAHA standards. Starting now, districts must phase out and eliminate:
● Ultra-processed junk like packaged snacks, sugary drinks, and processed meats.
● Toxic food dyes (Blue 1&2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5&6).
● Foods grown with pesticides like glyphosate.
● Seed oils (corn, canola, cottonseed, grapeseed, soy).
● Vending machines peddling sugary drinks and processed snacks.
We’re also demanding:
● Enough time for kids to eat and digest their meals.
● Fresh, locally sourced ingredients and more scratch cooking.
● Full transparency on meal ingredients to empower parents.
● More time for physical activity to keep kids healthy.
OSDE is pushing an emergency rule to enforce these healthy meal standards. Until then, we’re demanding districts submit proof of MAHA compliance, and we’ll publish a list of compliant schools on the OSDE website. Vendors will also report their steps to meet these standards. “This isn’t optional,” Walters said. “Schools that can’t prioritize your kids’ health and well-being don’t deserve your tax dollars.”
Parents, Your Voice Matters—Demand Action Now! Oklahoma parents, you’re the backbone of this fight. Bureaucrats won’t change unless you make them. I’m calling on every one of you to raise your voice and sign our parent petition at [OSDE website link] to demand districts fully fund meals and cut administrative waste. Your signature sends a clear message: no more excuses, no more bloated budgets, no more shortchanging our kids. Stand with me to hold these districts accountable. Sign the petition today and tell administrators to put your children first—or get out of the way!
Oklahoma parents, your kids come first. We’re fighting to ensure every dollar goes to their meals, their health, and their future—not bureaucrats’ bank accounts. If administrators won’t step up, they can step out.

Today, Ryan Walters put out an email to Oklahoma parents informing them that every child in Oklahoma should have access to no-cost school meals (OSDE release [oklahoma.gov]). While we share the end goal, we do not agree it can be achieved by this proposed approach. Hunger Free Oklahoma has taken consistent action in pursuit of universal school meals, including work on legislation in the most recent legislative sessions. We proposed universal meals by leveraging existing federal programs, adding additional state funds for districts that could not feed every child without additional state funds, and partnering with local food growers and producers, because we know that no-cost meals help students succeed and reduce barriers for families. 
 
Our Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) report [hungerfreeok.org], released in June, shows that Oklahoma schools have made major progress in leveraging federal resources. With the inclusion of SoonerCare (Medicaid) data in CEP eligibility calculations, participation has more than doubled—from 382 schools last year to 849 this year—resulting in nearly 300,000 students gaining access to no-cost breakfast and lunch. This is an example of what is possible when state policy and investment align with federal opportunity.
 
The reality is that eligibility for programs like CEP is not the same as feasibility and for many schools the gap between the cost of food service and the reimbursement for universal school meals is not workable without additional investment from the state. You can read our full analysis and recommendations about universal meals in the CEP report here [hungerfreeok.org].

Put simply, ensuring every child has access to no cost meals every school day and throughout the summer is a goal we should all share and that we can achieve, but it will take additional investment from our state and leveraging every federal dollar available to make it happen.
 
Hunger Free Oklahoma remains committed to working with all partners to ensure that no child in our state has to learn while distracted by hunger.

"Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, Tulsa Public Schools was designated a full Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) district by the USDA. This means that breakfast and lunch meals are available to all students without a fee and households are not required to complete an application for school meals.
Tulsa Public Schools is committed to providing the highest quality meals to our students, and will work closely with our meal service vendor to ensure healthy and nutritious meals continue to be available to our young people."

Jenks Public Schools has received no direct communication from the Oklahoma State Department of Education regarding changes to funding for school meals or the statements published by State Superintendent Walters.
 
JPS complies with all federal and state laws concerning budget practices and operates with full financial transparency. Each year, JPS undergoes an independent audit to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent appropriately. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the District operated with administrative costs of 3.14%, well under the 5% limit of Oklahoma State Law Title 70 Section 18-124. Currently, 90% of the District’s general fund is allocated to paying the salaries and benefits of its 1,700 employees. In accordance with state law, the JPS Board of Education approved the 2025-26 budget in June to continue legal operations on July 1.
 
The proposal from Superintendent Walters that school districts should slash budgets to pay for all student meals is financially irresponsible as it imposes a drastic change without an understanding of the long-term consequences for schools across Oklahoma. Implementing these rules would result in an unfunded mandate at a cost of at least $1.5 million for Jenks Public Schools.
 
All students are served meals regardless of their ability to pay, and JPS will continue to provide healthy food options. Fruit and vegetable options have been increased, while menu items higher in sodium, sugar, fat, and artificial coloring have been reduced. All a la carte cafeteria items and vending machine items meet USDA Smart Snack standards. When available, local foods are purchased, and all nutritional information is available to parents on the JPS website.
 
District leaders embrace any opportunity to collaborate with elected state leaders to discuss ideas for improvement and identify practical, cost-effective solutions to enhance educational outcomes for all students.  

A recent statement from State Superintendent Walters relative to child nutrition funding came to our attention via social media. To date, we have received no direct communication from the Oklahoma State Department of Education regarding this matter.

To sum it up, Supt. Walters has proposed new rules that would require districts to absorb all costs related to school meals. Based on the information we have at this time, our current understanding is that any proposed rule changes would require legislative approval and therefore will not impact our practices as we begin the upcoming school year in August. With this in mind, we still need to address the information released by the Oklahoma State Department of Education earlier today.

Should these rules be implemented, it could result in a $5M unfunded mandate annually for Bixby Public Schools alone. To absorb this expense into our district budget would require catastrophic measures impacting all programming, staffing, and class sizes.

Important points of clarification:

• The district already subsidizes child nutrition costs with other funding sources, as the proceeds alone are not a sufficient source of funding.
• If child nutrition proceeds do exceed costs, districts are limited in how the funds can be spent. Administrative costs are not an approved expenditure.
• District administrative costs are capped at 5% by law. This portion of our budget is between 3 and 3.5% at BPS.
• All school districts are required to follow the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which outlines federal nutrition guidelines for all meals.
• All public school districts in Oklahoma undergo required annual financial audits. Any “mismanagement of funds” as referenced in Walters’ statement would constitute a serious audit finding. 
  

Bixby Public Schools takes its responsibility to its community and taxpayers seriously, and it remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and sound financial stewardship.

In response to this afternoon’s email issued by the State Department of Education to parents in Oklahoma school districts, we’d like to share some information that pertains to our district:

1. How much does the district currently spend on food costs? During FY24-25 the district spent $5,637,325.22 in food/supply/commodity processing. This figure does NOT cover the cost of salaries and benefits for the 180 employees who work in the Child Nutrition Department.
2. What is our free and reduced rate and how much are we reimbursed from federal sources? Broken Arrow Public Schools has a Free & Reduced rate of 47% Last year the district received $6,264,064.79 in federal child nutrition reimbursements. Again, this figure does NOT cover the cost of salaries and benefits for Child Nutrition staff, which equals another $6.1 million, paid from the district’s child nutrition fund.  (This site might be helpful as you try to understand the funding sources.) [baschools.org]
3. What are the district’s administrative costs? Our district’s current administrative costs are 4.22%, which is UNDER the limit of Oklahoma State Law Title 70 Section 18-124.  I’ve attached a snapshot of the law for reference, and worth noting are the definitions of what constitutes “administrative services.” Included in this definition are secretaries, instructional coaches, cafeteria managers, etc. who are not directly tied to a classroom, but no less critical to supporting student learning. (And while our district offers competitive wages for these types of positions, these are not high-paying positions.)
4. Do students go without food? No. We have a “Love Account” that pays for outstanding debt, and we provide an alternative meal that consists of all food groups (protein, fruits, veggies, grain, milk). No child is turned away without being offered a meal.
5. Are school meals healthy? Yes. Our District follows all USDA federal and OSDE state guidelines with regard to providing healthy and nutritious meals. We already attempt to avoid ultra-processed food; in addition, we avoid artificial food dyes and artificial sweeteners. We purchase foods with a variety of different oils and not just one type of seed oil to avoid allergies. We purchase local foods when funding is available to us through the state and the USDA. Purchasing local foods creates challenges sometimes in availability; however, when able, we make it a priority. All vending machines meet Smart Snack compliance, including low-to-no sugar drinks and whole-grain snack options.

It’s worth noting that BAPS already participates in an annual audit [baschools.org], which is posted publicly to our website and discussed in meetings that are open to the public. We are already below the legal limit of administrative costs. We already include a line item for food costs in our budget. Our district already sources local ingredients and funds the cost using federal and local sources. Our district already offers full transparency on meal ingredients, which is accessible on our website, and we and have already taken steps to remove ingredients that are harmful to student health.

In short, this change would be an additional $8 million for our district, and it comes at a time when our new fiscal year is already underway. Public school districts approved their budgets – per state law – to begin July 1. If districts are unable to collect money locally to pay for food costs – (i.e. from those families who can pay the average cost of $3.25 lunch/$2.25 breakfast per meal charge) the shortfall needed to cover that will come from another source, most likely the general fund. Currently, 85% of the district’s general fund is allocated to paying the salaries and benefits for our 2,600 employees. Cutting every single administrative cost in the district budget would still not generate enough revenue to fund the plan that was announced today, let alone sustain it.   

District leaders welcome the opportunity to have a conversation with state leaders that will result in productive, innovative solutions to improve the state of education in Oklahoma. Until then, Oklahoma educators will continue putting Oklahoma students first. If you would like to discuss this further tomorrow, please let me know and I will make arrangements for you to chat with some of our experts.

“I was stunned and thrilled when I read about Superintendent Walters' most recent mandate regarding free school lunches,” Menz said. “I have filed and cosponsored legislation, cohosted bipartisan interim studies, published op-eds and held countless meetings all toward the goal of expanding the free lunch program in our schools, and I am glad someone in statewide leadership is finally listening to me. Hungry kids can't learn, and every child deserves access to healthy nutritious meals. I hope that going forward, Mr. Walters will be more collaborative with the legislature, to determine lasting budget solutions to make this program work for our kids.” 

“The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows schools to use federal funds to offer no-cost meals to students,” said Pogemiller. “Schools qualify if just 25% of students meet the threshold, making it an efficient way to increase access and improve nutrition for all students. As of the end of 2024, 267 districts and 849 schools in Oklahoma were participating in CEP. Yet the deadline to apply for CEP was June 30—meaning this new potential mandate arrived too late for districts to adjust their plans, and our state won’t have the chance to prioritize this in the budget until next year. Happy to work towards this goal, but the reality is that Walters' approach is an unfunded mandate.”

“School lunch programs are proven to boost learning, improve test scores and promote healthy bodies,” said Waldron. “House Democrats have worked on this issue for a long time, and we're glad to see OSDE taking this stand. In my district, Tulsa Public Schools already provides free lunches to all. We hope there will be an opportunity to work on this collaboratively, without disruption to local school finances so that every child has a chance to succeed.”