Charles County Public Schools meal prices will rise 5 cents for both breakfast and lunch when students return this fall, a smaller increase than last year’s 10-cent jump, as the district also works to finalize which schools will offer free breakfast through a state-funded program.
Elementary school students will pay $1.50 for breakfast and $2.95 for lunch during the 2026-2027 school year, while middle and high school students will pay $1.65 for breakfast and $3.20 for lunch. Milk remains 75 cents at all grade levels, unchanged from prior years. The increase follows a steeper 10-cent hike CCPS implemented for the current school year, when elementary prices rose to $1.45 and $2.90 and secondary prices rose to $1.60 and $3.15.
Families whose children qualify for reduced-price meals won’t feel the increase at all: under Maryland’s Cares for Kids Act, the state now covers the reduced-price portion of school meals directly, meaning eligible students receive meals at no cost to their families even though they technically fall into the “reduced-price” tier rather than the “free” tier under federal guidelines. Students who qualify as fully free-eligible continue to receive meals at no charge as well.
The district’s free and reduced-price meals application for the new school year is now live at myschoolapps.com, and CCPS is urging families to complete it as soon as possible. Only one application is needed per household, and paper copies will go home with students during the first week of school for families who prefer not to apply online. Students who received free or reduced-price meals during the 2025-2026 school year will keep that status only through Oct. 7; families must submit a new application before that date to avoid a gap in benefits. Families applying for the first time must pay for meals their children eat until the application is processed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sets the income thresholds used to determine eligibility each year, generally based on 130% of the federal poverty line for free meals and 185% for reduced-price meals; for a household of four under the prior year’s guidelines, that translated to an annual income cutoff of roughly $41,795 for free meals and $59,478 for reduced-price meals, figures that are typically adjusted slightly each summer.
CCPS is also encouraging every family to complete the application regardless of income, since the data collected feeds into funding formulas for other school resources, including technology dollars and student support services that are calculated using free and reduced-price meal counts.
Twelve CCPS schools will continue operating under the federal Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, which allows schools with a sufficiently high concentration of low-income students to offer free breakfast and lunch to every enrolled student regardless of individual household income, eliminating the need for families at those schools to apply at all. This year’s CEP list includes Dr. Gustavus Brown, Indian Head, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Arthur Middleton, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, J.P. Ryon and Eva Turner elementary schools, along with Glymont, John Hanson and Benjamin Stoddert middle schools and Thomas Stone High School.
Separately, the Maryland Meals for Achievement program, which last year provided free breakfast to all students at 32 CCPS schools regardless of income, remains unfinalized for the coming year. As of July 30, the Maryland State Department of Education had not confirmed which schools will participate in MMFA for 2026-2027; schools become eligible when at least 40% of their students qualify for free or reduced-price meals based on the prior year’s counts, and the state must approve each participating school before the program can launch. Unlike CEP, MMFA covers breakfast only — students get a free lunch under MMFA only if their school also happens to carry a CEP designation.
CCPS will continue posting daily breakfast and lunch menus through the Meal Viewer platform, linked from the “School Meals” section of the district’s website at ccboe.com. Questions about the Food and Nutrition Services program can be directed to the department at 301-392-5570.
