Some 17,000 public school students will be eligible to receive free meals at their schools regardless of their family’s ability to pay, under plans announced Tuesday by the state Department of Education to expand a pilot program that launched last fall.

The number of participating schools will increase fourfold to 30 schools on six islands from seven pilot schools on three islands this year.

By providing free meals for entire schools, the program aims to increase access to nutritious school meals by helping remove the stigma for low-income children to participate. Studies have shown students who have access to better nutrition tend to perform better academically.

The meals are provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Program, which allows schools serving high-poverty areas to participate in the National School Lunch Program without having to collect and process individual meal applications. Eligibility is instead determined by relying on information from other programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance Program for Needy Families, or welfare.

To qualify for the free-meal program, at least 40 percent of a school’s students must be eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a key indicator of poverty. Under federal income guidelines for Hawaii, a family of four cannot earn more than $51,597 to qualify for the reduced rate, while a family of four earning $36,257 or less qualifies for free meals.

“We are pleased to be able to expand this program to more schools and include nearly every island with free meals,” schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said in a statement. “We’ve heard from parents in this year’s pilot project who say the program was a tremendous help for their families.”

The seven schools in the pilot program will continue participating:

>> Kaunakakai Elementary School, Molokai

>> Kilohana Elementary School, Molokai

>> Maunaloa Elementary School, Molokai

>> Molokai Middle School

>> Molokai High School

>> Mountain View Elementary School, Hawaii island

>> Linapuni Elementary School, Oahu

So far this school year, the seven pilot schools — with combined enrollment of 1,698 students — increased breakfast participation on average by 138 meals a day and increased lunch participation by 153 meals a day, on average, according to DOE data.

Under the federal program, the USDA reimburses the state at a higher rate for all lunches served at participating schools, meaning the state will be able to recoup more of its costs. The DOE, which serves roughly 110,000 lunches a day, spends $5.50 to prepare a lunch including food costs, labor and utilities.

The DOE expects to receive $851,387 in total federal meal reimbursements across the seven pilot schools this school year, up by more than $200,000 over the previous year’s reimbursements for the schools.

Nationally, more than 14,000 high-poverty schools serving more than 6 million students adopted the USDA program last school year. The program, which was established by Congress as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, became available nationwide for the first time in 2014 after being piloted in 11 states.