Free breakfast, lunch for all Philadephia school students

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- All students in The School District of Philadelphia will be able to receive breakfast and lunch free of charge starting this school year.

The District says paper applications will no longer be needed for students to receive school meals.

"Our goal is to provide as many students as possible with access to healthy, nutritious meals," Superintendent William Hite said in a statement. "We want to keep students' focus on learning, not hunger."

The District has offered breakfast at no cost to all schools for the past four years.

Since 1991, approximately 175 schools have participated in a universal lunch program where all students were able to receive free lunch without completing paperwork. Under the new program, an estimated 85 schools will join their ranks.

Nationwide, more than 13 million children are served school breakfast and more than 32 million receive school lunch annually.