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In the Alamance-Burlington School System, student breakfast costs $2.00, and student lunch costs $3.10.

Out of the system’s 38 schools, 28 are Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools – which means you don’t need to apply as all students are served free breakfast and lunch, regardless of household income.

No application is needed in the 2026-27 school year for the following locations:

In all other schools, the district also has a “no child turned away” policy for students who don’t have money to pay for their meal in the cafeteria line, but those students will accrue debt.

Research shows that students who eat school breakfast, specifically, experience positive outcomes in school like improved academic performance and classroom behavior, and better health outcomes, EdNC reported.

Submitting an application for free or reduced meals ensures that students don’t accrue debt. In most cases, qualifying for free or reduced meals also helps ensure your student qualifies for SAT/ACT and college application fee waivers.

Families only need to submit one application for all students living under the same household. Eligibility for free or reduced price meals only lasts for one school year, so you’ll need to apply again before or at the beginning of each new school year.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to apply for free and reduced meals in Alamance County.

Apply for free or reduced lunch online

1. Go to www.lunchapplication.com
2. Click ‘Apply Now’
3. From the dropdown bars, select your state (North Carolina) and school district (Alamance Burlington Schools).
4. Click ‘Continue’
5. The next sections require detailed student (including their student ID number), household, and income information, and should only be completed by an adult household member, like a parent or legal guardian.
6. Towards the end, you will be asked for a Social Security number. If you do not have one, check the box indicating that. Note: You do not have to be a U.S. citizen for students in your household to qualify for free or reduced lunch, and citizenship status will not affect your eligibility.
7. Fill out the form with your contact information in case the school or district has any further questions about your application, though this is optional.
8. Submit your application.
   

Apply for free or reduced lunch on paper

1. Paper copies can be picked up directly at your student’s school’s main office. Once the form is filled out, submit it to the school.
2. You can also contact ABSS Free & Reduced Specialist Lori Snow at 336-570-6080 to request a paper application to be sent to you.
3. If you or someone you know needs assistance filling out an application form, contact SAFE Alamance by phone at 336-525-2120 or email connect@safealamance.org, or visit the Triad Goodwill on the Go mobile unit. Find the full calendar with stops here. (The next Alamance County stop will be at SAFE Alamance on Friday, March 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The United Way of Alamance County will also be hosting stops soon.)

Things to keep in mind

Here are some key things to know before applying for free or reduced-price school meals:

Do I need to apply?

• You don’t have to apply if your family has already received a letter from the school confirming your children are automatically approved (AKA directly certified) for free meals.
• Only one application is required for all children in your household attending Alamance Burlington Schools.
  

How is eligibility determined?

Eligibility for free or reduced-price meals is based on one of the following:

• Household income and size: Your total household income and size during the month the application is submitted or the month prior.
• Child’s status: Your child’s individual status as foster, homeless, migrant, or runaway.
• Assistance programs: Participation in an assistance program by any member of your household.

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How to get free or reduced meals in Alamance-Burlington Schools

by Laura Brache, The Alamance Fabric
March 24, 2026

<h1>How to get free or reduced meals in Alamance-Burlington Schools</h1> <p class="byline">by Laura Brache, The Alamance Fabric <br />March 24, 2026</p> <p><em>Lea ésta guía en español <a href="https://nclocal.org/2026/03/23/comida-estudiantil-gratis-o-a-precio-reducido-en-las-escuelas-de-alamance-burlington/">aquí</a></em>.</p> <p>In the <a href="https://www.abss.k12.nc.us/page/school-nutrition">Alamance-Burlington School System</a>, student breakfast costs $2.00, and student lunch costs $3.10.</p> <p>Out of the system’s 38 schools, 28 are Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools – which means you don’t need to apply as all students are served free breakfast and lunch, regardless of household income.</p> <p>No application is needed in the 2026-27 school year for the following locations:</p> <p>In all other schools, the district also has a “no child turned away” policy for students who don’t have money to pay for their meal in the cafeteria line, but those students will accrue debt.</p> <p><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3737458/">Research shows</a> that students who eat school breakfast, specifically, experience positive outcomes in school like improved <a href="https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/breakfastforlearning-1.pdf">academic performance and classroom behavior</a>, and better <a href="https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/breakfastforhealth-1.pdf">health outcomes</a>, <a href="https://www.ednc.org/hungry-kids-are-not-going-to-learn-see-how-these-students-benefit-from-universal-school-breakfast/">EdNC reported</a>.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-nclocal wp-block-embed-nclocal"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://nclocal.org/2025/11/12/need-food-in-nc-use-this-map-to-find-it/ </div> </figure> <p>Submitting an application for free or reduced meals ensures that students don’t accrue debt. In most cases, qualifying for free or reduced meals also helps ensure your student qualifies for SAT/ACT and college application fee waivers.</p> <p>Families only need to submit one application for all students living under the same household. Eligibility for free or reduced price meals only lasts for one school year, so you’ll need to apply again before or at the beginning of each new school year.</p> <p>Here is a step-by-step guide on how to apply for free and reduced meals in Alamance County.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-apply-for-free-or-reduced-lunch-online">Apply for free or reduced lunch online</h3> <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li>Go to <a href="http://www.lunchapplication.com">www.lunchapplication.com</a></li> <li>Click ‘Apply Now’</li> <li>From the dropdown bars, select your state (North Carolina) and school district (Alamance Burlington Schools).</li> <li>Click ‘Continue’</li> <li>The next sections require detailed student (including their student ID number), household, and income information, and should only be completed by an adult household member, like a parent or legal guardian.</li> <li>Towards the end, you will be asked for a Social Security number. If you do not have one, check the box indicating that. <em>Note: You do not have to be a U.S. citizen for students in your household to qualify for free or reduced lunch, and citizenship status will not affect your eligibility.</em></li> <li>Fill out the form with your contact information in case the school or district has any further questions about your application, though this is optional.</li> <li>Submit your application.</li> </ol> <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-apply-for-free-or-reduced-lunch-on-paper">Apply for free or reduced lunch on paper</h3> <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li>Paper copies can be picked up directly at your student’s school’s main office. Once the form is filled out, submit it to the school.</li> <li>You can also contact ABSS Free &amp; Reduced Specialist Lori Snow at 336-570-6080 to request a paper application to be sent to you.</li> <li>If you or someone you know needs assistance filling out an application form, contact SAFE Alamance by phone at 336-525-2120 or email <a href="mailto:connect@safealamance.org">connect@safealamance.org</a>, or visit the Triad Goodwill on the Go mobile unit. Find the full <a href="https://www.triadgoodwill.org/events/category/goodwillonthego/">calendar with stops here</a>. (The next Alamance County stop will be at SAFE Alamance on Friday, March 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The United Way of Alamance County will also be hosting stops soon.)</li> </ol> <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-things-to-keep-in-mind">Things to keep in mind</h3> <p>Here are some key things to know before applying for free or reduced-price school meals:</p> <p><strong>Do I need to apply? </strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>You don’t have to apply if your family has already received a letter from the school confirming your children are automatically approved (AKA directly certified) for free meals.</li> <li>Only one application is required for all children in your household attending Alamance Burlington Schools.<strong><br /></strong></li> </ul> <p><strong>How is eligibility determined? </strong></p> <p>Eligibility for free or reduced-price meals is based on one of the following:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Household income and size: Your total household income and size during the month the application is submitted or the month prior.</li> <li>Child's status: Your child's individual status as foster, homeless, migrant, or runaway.</li> <li>Assistance programs: Participation in an assistance program by any member of your household.</li> </ul> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://nclocal.org/2026/03/24/how-to-get-free-or-reduced-meals-in-abss/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://nclocal.org&quot;&gt;The Alamance Fabric&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://nclocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-NCLocal_Favicon_48px-1-150x150.png?crop=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://nclocal.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=6784&amp;amp;ga4=G-ZYXQJ6BNB9&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://nclocal.org/2026/03/24/how-to-get-free-or-reduced-meals-in-abss/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/nclocal.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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