About 70% of Oregon schools will offer free breakfasts and lunches to all students during the upcoming school year, up from around 55% a year ago, the state Department of Education said Monday.
Their ranks now include almost every school in the metro area, including all in Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest district, and the Beaverton School District, its third largest, both of which offered free meals only in higher need schools last year.
Universal school meals are having a national moment, after briefly being on the menu coast-to-coast for all students during the pandemic’s immediate aftermath. The federal government discontinued that effort in October, 2022.
Most recently, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, soon to be the Democrats’ formal nominee for vice president, went viral after being inundated with hugs from children when he signed a bill to make school breakfast and lunch free for all in 2023.
Advertisement
The topic isn’t without controversy though. Only eight states, all of them led by Democrats, have passed legislation guaranteeing free school meals regardless of income. Republican governors and legislators have pushed back, arguing that the program wastes money giving free meals to children from families who can afford to buy school food or pack a lunch from home.
Anti-hunger advocates have pointed to studies showing that making meals at school free for all students can reduce the stigma associated with getting them and that feeding all students translates to better behavioral and academic outcomes.
In Oregon, a bill that would have funded free school meals statewide died in the 2023 legislative session. But advocates are planning to renew that request in the 2025 session, said David Wieland, a policy advocate for Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. It would cost less this time, Wieland said, because of changes in federal reimbursement policies that helped fuel this year’s expansion in Oregon.
The proposed bill is still taking shape, but advocates envision grants to help districts for whom it is a logistical struggle to serve meals — for example, to purchase more scratch cooking equipment, Wieland said. There are also ongoing conversations about how to ensure that students have time to eat cafeteria meals and meal choices appeal to their palates to cut down on waste, he said.
Last October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that if at least 25% of students in schools and districts were enrolled in government assistance programs like food stamps or Head Start or were homeless, migrants or in foster care, the entire school or district could qualify for free meals and get reimbursed for up to 90% of the cost of providing them. Previously, the threshold had been set at 40%. Oregon lawmakers pitched in an extra $17 million to help schools defray the extra costs.
Advertisement
Another big factor that aided the expansion, said Matt Newell-Ching, a policy manager for the Oregon Food Bank: a federal pilot program that has allowed all Medicaid-eligible Oregon children to be automatically registered for free school lunches, taking the paperwork onus off of their parents.
In schools that aren’t offering universal free school meals this year, a family of four needs to make under $90,000 annually to qualify for their students for free lunches. Every school district sets its own prices for lunch, and costs can vary widely. There are no free meals planned in ???
In addition to Portland and Beaverton, free meals will also be offered in North Clackamas, Tigard-Tualatin and Hillsboro.
“Everyone’s food budgets are high right now, and this helps all families,” Newell-Ching said. “Instead of putting in means tests about who needs it, this is a recognition that food costs are high for everyone.”
— Julia Silverman covers education for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her via email at jsilverman@oregonian.com or find her on X.com at @jrlsilverman.
SALEM, Ore. (KATU) — Oregon’s childhood vaccination rates have fallen to their lowest levels on record, while the number of parents claiming nonmedical vaccine exemptions continues to climb, according to newly released data from the Oregon Health Authority.
The agency reported on Thursday that 85.6% of Oregon kindergarteners were up to date on required vaccines during the 2025-26 school year.
At the same time, the nonmedical exemption rate reached a record high of 10.9%.
State health officials say the trend is raising concerns about the potential for outbreaks of highly contagious diseases, including measles and whooping cough.
Advertisement
“Although the vast majority of families in Oregon are still choosing to protect families through vaccination, the downward trends are deeply concerning,” said Dr. Howard Chiou, medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations at OHA. “We risk seeing the return of diseases such as measles and polio—diseases of the past that once caused widespread harm but are entirely preventable with vaccines.”
READ ALSO | Oregon State study raises concerns about AI’s impact on student thinking skills
The statewide numbers tell only part of the story.
According to OHA, more than one in three Oregon schools with at least 10 students have measles vaccination rates below 95%, the threshold public health officials say is needed to help prevent outbreaks through community immunity.
Chiou said those exemption rates, combined with lower vaccination coverage at some schools, are increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
Advertisement
The concerns come as Oregon and the nation are seeing increases in vaccine-preventable diseases.
OHA says the nonmedical exemption rate for the second dose of the measles vaccine has nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from 4.9% to 9.4%.
The state also recorded 1,475 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, in 2025, the highest total in 75 years.
What could happen if the trend continues?
Dr. Alanna Braun, a pediatrician at OHSU, said declining vaccination rates increase the likelihood of disease outbreaks.
“The thing that really stands out to me the most is just sort of the trend of just ongoing decreased immunization rates across our state and seeing how many schools here in Oregon are now at risk for major outbreaks of some really serious illnesses,” said Braun.
Advertisement
Braun said communities become more vulnerable when vaccination rates fall below the level needed to prevent the spread of disease.
READ ALSO | Council passes Portland Arts Tax update, increasing fee & changing exemption threshold
She noted that outbreaks can affect more than just unvaccinated students.
“A lot of kids have infant siblings at home who are not able to be vaccinated,” Braun said. “Certainly, there are kids in all of these schools who are unable to be vaccinated, kids who are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. There are teachers who are immunocompromised for various reasons.”
Braun said the long-term outlook is concerning if vaccination rates continue to fall.
Advertisement
“As we’re seeing reduced rates of immunizations, I think it’s more and more likely that we are gonna see some of these preventable illnesses with more frequency,” she said.
What parents can do
OHA is encouraging parents to check vaccination rates at their child’s school and talk with their healthcare provider if they have questions about vaccines.
“We want to empower families to make informed decisions,” said Chiou. “We want parents to revisit and reconsider their decisions because the situation in Oregon has changed.”
Parents can view vaccination and exemption rates for individual schools using OHA’s School Immunization Data Dashboard.
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Starting in 2026, a new law in Oregon requires all non-motorized boats, regardless of size, to buy and carry a waterway access permit. That includes paddleboards and kayaks.
But there has been some push back from one organization.
Ben Roche is part of Let Us Paddle. The organization aims to repeal the updates to the waterway access permit.
“It’s Oregonians constitutional right to free access to our waterways. And human powered watercrafts are the best way to do that, and the least environmentally impactful,” said Roche.
Advertisement
According to the Oregon State Marine Board, permit fees range from $6 to $35.
If you’re caught without a permit, there’s a $115 fine.
The state agency says the funding goes directly to two programs.
One supports aquatic invasive species watercraft inspection stations and the other improves access points to the water that specifically serve paddlers.
“There is a need for inspection and we support that. What we don’t support is charging recreational paddleboarders for cleaning of motorboats that enter our state,” said Roche.
Advertisement
Roche adds, the state is only funding a few dozen access points.
Let Us Paddle has collected at least 20,000 signatures, and they want about 130,000 more by July 2.
They need at least 120,000 verified signatures to put the repeal before voters on the November ballot.
But even if they don’t meet the requirement, Roche says he’ll keep pushing for change.
“I think it’s really a poorly crafted bill that collects a small drop in the bucket of revenue but impacts thousands of recreational kayakers across the state,” said Roche.
Advertisement
FOX 12 reached out to the Oregon State Marine Board to ask more questions, but have not yet to heard back.
Oregon DMV temporarily paused dispersing new undercover vehicle license plates starting April 15.
FILE – The U.S. Department of Justice seal is seen on a podium before a news conference, May 4, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP
Advertisement
The Justice Department is suing four states after they refused to issue confidential license plates to federal law enforcement agencies, despite having done so in the past.
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts and Maine, seek to force states to resume what the federal government describes as long-standing, routine policies.
The scope of the combined litigation raises questions about ways the federal government has aggressively carried out immigration enforcement since President Donald Trump’s reelection, and whether the Constitution grants states the power to deny federal law enforcement agencies license plates that effectively conceal officers’ identities.
“Oregon’s DMV policy illegally discriminates against the United States, violates the Supremacy clause, and is unconstitutional,” attorneys for the federal government argued in court filings.
Oregon DMV temporarily paused disbursing new undercover license plates to all federal agencies starting April 15.
Advertisement
“The DMV is currently evaluating the undercover vehicle registration program to ensure the program complies with Oregon law,” Oregon DMV Administrator Amy Joyce explained in a May 22 letter to Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate.
A recent lawsuit filed against Oregon State Police alleges the state is providing personal information to federal immigration authorities through databases, including Oregon’s DMV.
“If the DMV process for issuing undercover plates could be questioned under Oregon law, the State is at risk for additional litigation,” Joyce explained in the letter to Shumate.
The state’s review of the undercover license plate program doesn’t prevent federal vehicles from legally driving on Oregon roads.
“State and local law enforcement are unaffected by this pause and the federal agencies that participate in the program are able to continue to use their existing unexpired plates,” Kevin Glenn, a spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek wrote in a statement.
Advertisement
Immigration officers have relied on these license plates for enforcement, including during Operation Black Rose in Oregon. According to U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, officers arrested more than 1,498 people between September and March, which led to 1,057 removals.
The lawsuits filed Wednesday argue the states’ DMV policies undermine ongoing federal investigations.
“Federal law enforcement agencies should not be subject to the challenged DMV policy, which is unconstitutional and recklessly disregards officer safety, public safety, and federal operational needs‚” the Justice Department’s lawsuit states.
Sign up today for OPB’s “First Look” – your daily guide to the most important news and culture stories from around the Northwest.
