A change regarding breakfast and lunch at IDEA Public Schools in the Rio Grande Valley is underway.

Beginning Monday, Aug. 17, IDEA announced both meals will now be available at no cost to every student at every campus.

The free meals come as IDEA implements the Community Eligibility Provision under the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program. Families will not have to fill out applications to qualify for free or reduced-price meals and no action is required for students.

It's one of the changes greeting nearly 34,000 students returning to the 51 IDEA campuses located across the Valley.

Two IDEA campuses began their first day of school on Monday. IDEA Palmview and IDEA Harlingen College Prep both opened in 2020 and are now serving kindergarten through 12th grade, with both welcoming their first-ever senior class.

Those students will make up the schools' inaugural class of 2027.