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USDA bans school lunch fees for low-income families Boston 25 News [Video]

NEW YORK — (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that students eligible for free or reduced price school meals cannot be charged processing fees beginning in 2027.

School districts currently work with processing companies to offer cashless payment systems for families. But the companies can charge “processing fees” for each transaction. By law, students who are eligible for reduced price meals cannot be charged more than 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. With processing fees, however, families can end up paying 10 times that amount. Processing companies charge as much as $3.25 or 4% to 5% per transaction, according to a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

For families with lower incomes who can’t afford to load large sums in one go, processing fees can arrive weekly or even more frequently, increasing costs disproportionately. Families that qualify for free or reduced lunch pay as much as 60 cents …

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Work from Home Lunch

Santa Fe issues "code blue" due to winter weather [Video]

SOMETHING TO WATCH OUT FOR. THANK YOU OLGA. WELL, CITIES ACROSS THE STATE ARE WORKING TO KEEP PEOPLE WARM AND SAFE DURING THESE LOW TEMPERATURES. ALYSSA MUNOZ IS LIVE IN ALBUQUERQUE WITH ONE OF THE CITYS EFFORTS. HEY, JULIAN. THATS RIGHT. THE NEXT FEW NIGHTS ARE GOING TO BE REALLY COLD RIGHT NOW IN ALBUQUERQUE, ITS 29 DEGREES, BUT IN OTHER CITIES LIKE SANTA FE, THEYRE EXPECTING MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES, AND THATS WHY THEYVE ACTIVATED COLD BLUE CODE BLUE BACK IN NOVEMBER. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE THAT, YOU KNOW, PASSED AWAY FROM WEATHER EXPOSURE. SO THATS KIND OF WHAT WERE TRYING TO PREVENT. LIEUTENANT ISMAEL GUTIERREZ WORKS AT THE SALVATION ARMY IN SANTA FE. STARTING SATURDAY, THE CITY MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS OF THE STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE SALVATION ARMY ARE TEAMING UP FOR CODE BLUE, AN INITIATIVE TO HELP THE COMMUNITY DURING SEVERE WEATHER. WE PROVIDE THE SPACE, WE PROVIDE THE SUPPLIES. YOU KNOW, THE CITY HAS BEEN GRACEFUL IN HELPING US WITH SECURITY, WITH, YOU KNOW, POLICE JUST MAKING SURE THIS IS A SAFE PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO COME. THE SALVATION ARMY IS OFFERING 35 COTS FOR PEOPLE TO STAY AT THROUGHOUT CODE BLUE, INCLUDING SNACKS AND DRINKS. THERES A PLACE TO KEEP PEOPLE WARM DURING THE DAY, AND THEY CAN COME IN. WE DO HAVE SOME COTS AVAILABLE FOR SOME OF THEM. FOR SOME OF THEM TO, YOU KNOW, TO BE ABLE TO TAKE NAPS. WE PROVIDE BREAKFAST. WE PROVIDE LUNCH, WE PROVIDE SHOWERS AND LAUNDRY SERVICES. THE RED CROSS REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER SAYS THEYRE ON STANDBY, BUT WANTS PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF HOUSE FIRES, WHICH SHE SAYS ARE FREQUENT DURING TIMES LIKE THIS. IF YOURE USING A SPACE HEATER, KEEP IT OUT IN THE OPEN. DONT HAVE IT NEXT TO FLAMMABLE ITEMS. IF YOU ARE USING A FIREPLACE, KEEP IT NICE AND CLEAN AND THINGS AWAY FROM IT. JUST REALLY ENSURE THAT ALL YOUR HEAT SOURCES ARE ALSO BEING MONITORED AT ALL TIMES. NOW CODE BLUE WILL BE ACTIVATED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, UNTIL WEDNESDAY, AND AS OF ALBUQUERQUE, THE ALBUQUERQUES WESTSIDE SHELTER IS AT 100% CAPACITY AND OTHER SHELTERS AROUND THE CITY. THERE ARE ABOUT 150 BEDS LEFT.