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Springfield officials want to buy this property at 50 Warehouse St. to house the schools' meals program. The city and Holyoke have been approved to provide free lunches to all school students.

(The Republican file photo)

SPRINGFIELD — A state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman said Wednesday that Springfield and Holyoke have received formal approval to provide federally funded free lunches to all students, beginning this fall.

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The two communities are among 10 public school systems statewide that applied for and received approval for some, or all of their schools, to provide universal free lunch due to high poverty levels. Those who qualified previously had high levels of students receiving free lunch or reduced-price lunch.

In Greenfield, three schools have qualified for universal free lunch, based on poverty levels: Federal Street School, Newton Street and the Academy for Early Learning at North Parish.

The serving of lunches at no charge to the students is primarily funded by the federal government with some state funding.

Some districts, including Springfield and Holyoke, already have universal free breakfast programs but were allowed to expand to also provide free lunches.

Last year, Boston was the only community in Massachusetts with a free lunch program for all of its students.

In Springfield, the School Department estimates that it will cost $17 million to provide free breakfast and lunch to students year-round, including the summer. The federal government is slated to provide an estimated $16.5 million, and the state is expected to provide $521,614, according to city estimates.

Patrick Roach, the School Department’s chief financial officer, has estimated that federal funding for the lunch program reflects an increase of approximately $2 million by expanding to all children.