The School MEALS Act of 2025 focuses on making it easier for eligible children to get free school meals by improving how schools identify and enroll them. Right now, many kids who qualify for free meals don't get them because schools struggle to find them or process their applications. This bill tackles that problem in several ways.

First, it gives states and tribal organizations money—$28 million total—to upgrade their systems for directly certifying students as eligible for free meals. Direct certification means schools can automatically enroll kids based on information they already have from other government programs (like food assistance or Medicaid), without families having to fill out applications. The bill prioritizes funding for states and tribes that currently have the lowest certification rates, meaning the places struggling most get help first.

Second, the bill makes it easier for schools to participate in the Community Eligibility Option, which allows schools with high poverty rates to provide free meals to all students without individual applications. It changes the rules so schools have more time to count eligible students and can update their numbers throughout the school year instead of just once in April.

Third, it increases the threshold for how many students need to be eligible before a school can use direct certification, making it available to more schools. The bill also ensures that states report back on their progress in getting more kids enrolled in free meal programs, creating accountability for improvement.