Updated: Two federal judges issued preliminary rulings Oct. 31, ordering President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration to continue to fund SNAP using contingency funds during the government shutdown, . Judges ordered the Trump administration, which has argued the funds are inadequate and cannot be spent, to provide an update on how it will proceed. It鈥檚 unclear when the debit cards beneficiaries use to buy groceries will be reloaded.
Schools and community organizations are scrambling to prepare as federal funding for SNAP food assistance is set to lapse Nov. 1, leaving students from low-income families, and some staff members, vulnerable to hunger.
About 44 million people in 22 million households rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is also called food stamps, federal data show. Because about , schools, particularly those in high-poverty areas, expect they will quickly see the effects of a missed payment.
鈥淚 think I was shocked that this is actually happening,鈥� said Mallory DePrekel, the CEO of Communities in Schools of Michigan, an organization that provides wraparound services, including nutrition support, in schools. 鈥淲e鈥檙e dipping into our rainy day funds, and we seem to have had a lot of rainy days recently.鈥�
The unprecedented lapse in SNAP funding comes as schools increasingly coordinate with organizations like free clinics, food banks, and volunteer groups to help address their students鈥� non-academic needs, which can become a barrier to engagement in school. Educators say that, over the past two decades, schools have increasingly felt the weight of addressing societal problems that profoundly affect their students, like community violence, hunger, and a lack of family support.
As the government shutdown nears the one-month mark, the Trump administration has said SNAP recipients will see the first missed disbursement in November, but Democrats and anti-hunger organizations argue the U.S. Department of Agriculture could tap emergency aid to keep the program running until Congress reaches a resolution.
Wherever the blame lies, schools are preparing for the fallout.
Schools rush to prepare for SNAP funding cliff
This week, district leaders across the country coordinated with local food banks to provide additional food on-site to families in need. They prepared school social workers for an uptick in food requests. They worked with parent groups to set up food drives and fundraisers. And some made emergency communications plans to connect families with community resources.
鈥淔amilies deserve support, especially during times of change,鈥� said in California, which links to a calendar of community food distribution sites and lists schools where children under 18 can get a free after-school 鈥渟uper snack.鈥�
In Kansas City, Mo., alumni of Northeast High School, many who graduated decades ago, rushed to restock an on-site pantry there that serves about 1,400 students, local news station .
鈥淚 worry every night, and that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 up at 3 a.m.,鈥� said Roberta Holt-Kipper, a 1969 graduate who created the pantry.
Communities in Schools of Michigan鈥檚 case managers work in 62 schools, supporting vulnerable students one-on-one and connecting their families with resources like tutoring and groceries. This week, the organization turned to donors and raised $50,000 for additional food supplies in November.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e hungry, you鈥檙e cranky,鈥� said DePrekel, the CEO. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e cranky, you鈥檙e disruptive. You can鈥檛 learn, and the rest of the kids in your class can鈥檛 learn.鈥�
Another Communities in Schools affiliate in Tarrant County, Texas, opened a new headquarters stocked with perishable and shelf-stable foods provided by a regional food pantry earlier this year. The organization鈥檚 social workers, who work in 11 local districts, can request emergency food assistance, and volunteers will drive supplies to their schools. Communities in Schools of Tarrant County has raised $4,000 for additional emergency supplies so far, and the work continues, President and CEO Lindsey Garner said.
鈥淪tudents have to have somebody to walk alongside them and help them overcome the obstacles, and schools alone are not equipped to do that,鈥� Garner said.
School lunch funding expected to continue
Even if families struggle to buy groceries outside of school, most students will still receive free or reduced-price meals during the school day if their families qualify.
Additionally, eight states have their own universal free school meal policies, which cover all students, regardless of family income. And schools around the country are enrolled in community eligibility, a federal program that allows them to serve free meals to all students if 25% of their enrollment automatically qualifies by participating in qualifying federal assistance programs, like Medicaid or SNAP benefits.
The School Nutrition Association, which represents cafeteria directors around the country, expects schools to receive reimbursements in November for meals they served in October without an interruption in operations, spokesperson Diane Pratt-Heavner said.
Still, even students who eat well at school may experience hunger at home. And the stress of seeing their families face uncertainty is detrimental to learning, DePrekel said.
Concerns about the lapse aren鈥檛 just limited to students, she noted. It鈥檚 likely that many school employees, like lower-paid classroom aides, qualify for SNAP as well. In a 2022 survey of 3,481 paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, and school teaching assistants conducted by the EdWeek Research Center, 19% of respondents said they鈥檇 visited a food pantry and 16% said they had qualified for food stamps.
Communities in Schools of Michigan has worked to pay all of its workers a living wage, but some school social workers support large families and may lose SNAP benefits themselves, so DePrekel announced Thursday plans to match October SNAP benefits statements for all of her employees who don鈥檛 receive them in November at a total cost of $10,000 to $15,000.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a once-in-a-lifetime situation, but I鈥檝e been in my role for seven years, and we鈥檝e had a bunch of once-in-a-lifetime situations,鈥� DePrekel said.
On Thursday, the National School Boards Association urged Congress to resolve the impasse and end the shutdown.
鈥淲e are deeply concerned that more children will go home to empty pantries and go to bed hungry,鈥� CEO and Executive Director Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs said in a statement. 鈥淪chools are doing everything they can to provide safe, stable environments where students can learn and thrive鈥攂ut they cannot do it alone.鈥�
