A proposal to provide free meals to every student in Seattle's public schools has set off a budget fight at City Hall. The idea itself is not what divides city leaders, as both Mayor Katie Wilson and members of the City Council say they support making sure students are fed. The disagreement is over how to pay for the program, a question that has turned a broadly popular goal into a contentious debate over how the city should spend its limited dollars.
Free school meals became one of Mayor Katie Wilson's top priorities after she took office. Back in June, during a forum with Fox 13, she announced a plan to provide free breakfast and lunch for all Seattle public school students, framing it as a way to feed children without stigma. For the mayor, the program was meant to reach families across the city and remove the barriers that can keep some students from getting a meal during the school day.
To pay for the program, Mayor Wilson proposed using 7.7 million dollars from the city's Families, Education, Preschool and Promise levy, known as the FEPP levy. She argued that the money would help thousands of families who do not qualify for existing free meal programs but are still struggling with rising costs. The plan tied the meals initiative to an existing funding source that is already dedicated to education and family support across the city.
The proposal ran into resistance at a FEPP levy committee meeting on Wednesday, where council members debated whether that was the best use of the money. Council President Joy Hollingsworth and budget chair Dan Strauss put forward an amendment that would remove the mayor's proposal from the levy. Instead, their plan would prioritize food assistance during weekends, holidays and summer breaks, times when they said children in some neighborhoods are most likely to go hungry.
The debate drew more than an hour of public testimony, with residents pressing council members on how the city should handle student hunger. Speakers argued that for many children, school is often the only place they can get a free or halfway decent meal, and they warned against cutting support. The emotional testimony underscored how directly the funding decision could affect families who rely on school meals to help make ends meet each week.
Just 24 hours later, Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Strauss shifted course. They announced a new proposal saying that universal free school meals should indeed start this fall, but that the program should be paid for through the city's general fund rather than the FEPP levy. The reversal kept the goal of universal meals intact while changing the source of the money that would stand behind it, easing one dispute while opening another.
Mayor Wilson pushed back against the new approach in a statement. She noted that the general fund is already facing a 175 million dollar deficit, and said she looked forward to seeing which critical services the council plans to cut to make its numbers work. Council members were not available for an interview. The levy amendment now heads to a full City Council vote on July 28, setting up another round in the fight over how to feed Seattle's students.