Lunch Forms/Why The Schools Want You to be on Free Lunch

Todd’s take: Lunch forms

by Todd Chessmore
Lexington Public Schools Superintendent

Published: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 2:59 PM CDT


If you have children in school, you will soon receive free and reduced lunch forms in the mail.


In the past, we have found that many parents and guardians look at these forms and throw them away for a couple of reasons.

First, they may think they don’t qualify, or second they may feel it is not appropriate for their family to benefit from the program. We ask each of you to evaluate your eligibility before discarding the forms.

As a school district, it is important that all families qualifying for free and reduced lunch take advantage of the program.

For a family that qualifies for free and reduced lunch, the district will receive $2.76 from the Federal government for each lunch your child eats.

A family that qualifies for reduced lunch prices will pay $.40 for your child’s meal and the district will receive reimbursement from the government of $2.36.

This is compared to the $1.55 we will be charging full-pay elementary students and the $1.75 charge for full-pay secondary students. The federal government also reimburses the district $0.26 for every student paying full price for lunches.

Many times parents don’t think they qualify for the free and reduced lunch program because they are not aware of the guidelines.

A family of four (4) making $29,055 per year will qualify for free lunches. The same family of four (4) making $41,348 per year will qualify for reduced-price lunches.

If an elementary student qualifying for free lunch pays for their lunch instead of taking advantage of the program, it could cost the school district $0.95 per lunch or $170.05 for the school year.

If a secondary student qualifies for the program but pays for lunch, it costs the district $0.75 per lunch or $134.75 for the school year.

With approximately 60 percent of our students qualifying for free lunch, it would cost the school district approximately $235,626 per year if those students chose to pay for the lunch instead.

The reimbursement we receive from the Federal government allows us to continue to improve school lunches and to provide a quality healthy lunch to our students at a reasonable cost.

There are other reasons it is important families who qualify for free and reduced lunches take advantage of the program.

The Federal government provides Title I grant funds to school districts based on the number of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch.

We anticipate receiving approximately $1,000,000 in Title I dollars this year.

Lexington Public Schools also receives funding for students qualifying for free and reduced lunch through the state funding formula.

In the 2011/12 school year we anticipate receiving approximately $2.7 million in Poverty Funds.

Finally, part of the reimbursement for our summer school program is determined by the number of students qualifying for free lunch.

We realize that the beginning of the school year is a busy time for parents. However, we hope you will take the time to complete and return the forms.

The National School Lunch Program was established in 1946, and has received bipartisan support of Presidents ever since.

This is a program to help provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children every day, and we encourage all families who qualify to take advantage of this program.

http://www.lexch.com/articles/2011/07/2 ... 162353.txt