Category: Federal Government Actions

New Eligibility Guidelines for Free and Reduced School Meals Announced for the 2026-27 School Year (July 10, 2026)

On July 1, 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released federal income eligibility guidelines for free and reduced-price school meals and free milk for July 2026 through June 2027.

Schools, and other institutions and facilities, use the guidelines to determine eligibility for the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Milk Program for Children, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program.

To apply, households receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) need only include the SNAP or TANF case number on their application. Households enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or Medicaid may qualify for free or reduced-price school meals based on income and should complete a Household Meal Benefit Application. Other households can find more information on the Commonwealth’s COMPASS website.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD‑3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

  1. mail:
    U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
    1400 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
  2. fax:
    (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
  3. email:
    Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

The following annual income eligibility guidelines are effective July 1, 2026, until further notice: 

U.S. House Passes Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (July 3, 2026)

On June, 29, 2026, the U.S. House passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act in a 267-117 vote. The proposed legislation would require additional safeguards for children and teens online, including an update to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that would expand protections currently available to children up to the age of 12 to teens up to age 17. In addition, the updated act would ban websites from using targeted advertising on children and teens.

However, critics of the KIDS Act say it leaves out a crucial enforcement measure — a “duty of care” measure that would require tech companies to design their online platforms to be safe by default.

The proposed legislation now moves on to the Senate.

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Education Groups Sue USDE and OMB for Access to Nearly $2B in Funds Linked to Special Ed. (July 2, 2026)

On June 30, 2026, a coalition of disability and education organizations sued the the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over its withholding of almost $2B in USDE funds that were appropriated by Congress for education research, data collection, program evaluation, and assistance to states and school The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts districts, alleges that the failure of the USDE’s Institute of Education Sciences and OMB to provide funding for grants and contracts violates the Administrative Procedures Act, the Antideficiency Act and the constitutional separation of powers.

It is the contention of the plaintiffs and many within the education community that the withholding or failure to “apportion” those funds will impact all students, including those with disabilities, as researchers, schools, and families have less access to research-based guidance and information for effective practices. Thus, the plaintiffs are asking the court to ensure that congressionally appropriated funds are made available for spending. The lawsuit also challenges a federal grantmaking process that requires competitive grants to comply with certain Trump administration priorities, including an executive order to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in federal activities and spending, which is in contradiction to the congressionally mandated requirement within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide for a student’s inclusion in general education classrooms through providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE).

For more details from K-12 Dive, click here.

Supreme Court Decision Allows Schools to Separate Sports Teams Based on ‘Biological Sex’ (July 2, 2026)

According to a June 30, 2026 U.S. Supreme Court (Court) decision, girls’ and boys’ sports teams can be separated based on “biological sex.” It also allows state laws separating athletics based on “biological sex” to remain in place. The ruling included a West Virginia case (West Virginia v. B.P.J. ) that was filed on behalf of a teen assigned male at birth but who has publicly identified as a girl since third grade. The student took medication to stave off male puberty and also began estrogen hormone therapy but, as an 11-year-old middle schooler in 2021, that student was prohibited by state law from trying out for and playing on the girls’ cross country team since West Virginia’s 2021 state law barred transgender students’ participation on sports teams based on their gender identity.

Prior to 2021, West Virginia schools allowed transgender students to play on teams aligning with their gender identity on a case-by-case basis, according to court documents.

In their decision, justices in the majority opinion said the 2021 West Virginia law and others similar to it nationwide ”are reasonable” because of physical differences between men and women such as height, weight, strength, speed, endurance and jumping ability — even in cases where hormones and puberty blockers are involved. However, the divide between justices about whether transgender students may be prohibited from playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity in all cases or whether there should be some exceptions to that prohibition reflects a broader one nationwide among legislators, families, educators, education leaders, and the general public.

According to JD Supra, under the Court’s decision, Pennsylvania school districts are now permitted, but not required, to maintain girls’ sports teams limited to biological females, students assigned female at birth. Critically, the decision permits, but does not mandate, that states restrict athletic participation based on biological sex. Because Pennsylvania has not enacted a statute comparable to those in West Virginia or Idaho, its school districts retain discretion to set their own eligibility policies, subject to the executive order and state-law obligations discussed below.

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Court Temporarily Blocks USDE Regs That Exclude Graduate Ed. Degrees from Consideration as ‘Professional’ Degrees (June 26, 2026)

On June 24, 2026, a federal court temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) from applying new regulations significantly restricting which graduate degrees count as “professional.”

The designation allows students pursuing such degrees to take out up to $200,000 in federal student loans — double the amount permitted for other graduate programs. Among notable omissions were graduate education programs, a move that advocates said could harm educator pipelines.

The U.S. District Judge ruled that the USDE’s definition of professional degrees, which it released in April 2026, is likely inconsistent with the definition that Congress included when creating the caps last year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The judge also said the USDE’s rulemaking process likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

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