Gov. Walz to visit Rochester Tuesday to help kick off 2023-24 school year

(ABC 6 News) – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will visit Rochester on Tuesday to help students and educators kick off the 2023-24 school year.

Gov. Walz along with Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Commissioner Willie Jett, and Rochester Public Schools (RPS) Superintendent, Dr. Kent Pekel, will greet students and educators at Montessori at Franklin Elementary School in southeast Rochester.

According to a press release, Gov. Walz will help serve lunch, and celebrate a new law that provides free school meals for Minnesota students.

The Free School Meals for Kids program was signed into law by Gov. Walz in March. It provides state reimbursement to schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, so students can have one breakfast and one lunch at no cost at school.

RELATED: Minnesota new free school meals program to provide meals to students this school year

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan will visit schools in Columbia Heights and White Bear Lake on Tuesday.