- April 18, 2024
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There is such a thing as a free lunch. At least, there is for the 56.26% of Flagler County kids eligible for the National School Lunch Program, which reimburses participating schools for serving free or reduced-price food to middle- and low-income children.
Another 6.39% of county school children are eligible for reduced-price lunch.
“We've watched it just explode,” Flagler County Schools Food and Nutrition Services Angie Torres said of the number of children eligible for the program.
“Most of that, I believe is due to the fact that there’s not a lot of industry here, so when the housing bubble burst, all these contractors and roofers, the were coming in saying, 'I lost my job.'”
When Torres started working with the school district 11 years ago, she said, the percentage of children eligible for free or reduced-price lunch was in the 30s.
Now, the school district serves about 7,000 free or reduced price lunches a day, she said. About 11,000 students are eligible.
“That's all we do during August and September, just re-process applications and get their account straight,” she said.
One reason, she said, is that it’s easier to apply. And applications, at least at first, are treated on the honor system.
“Five years ago, if a family applied by paper ,and they made no income — not a job, nothing— we could temporarily have the student eligible for free meals, but then it would be on us to contact them back,” Torres said. “Now, if a family applies, and they put down that they make 0$, we are supposed to take that at face value, and they are qualified for free meals for the entire school year.”
The district does a random audit every year, she said, but cannot audit “for cause” or flag particular applications for the auditing process.
Eligibility is tied to family income, and based on the federal poverty level.
Children whose family incomes are below 130% of the federal poverty level are eligible for free lunches, and those whose families’ incomes are between 130% and 185% of the federal poverty level are eligible for reduced-price lunches, which are a flat 40 cents.
That means that a child from a family of four making below $30,615 would be eligible for free meals, and a child from a family of four making below $43,568 would be eligible for reduced-price meals.
Children who fall into certain categories — for instance, homeless kids, and children receiving certain other forms of government aid, like food stamps — are automatically eligible for the free lunch program, Torres said.
Not all children who are eligible use the program.
“My kids qualify but they still pack their own lunches from home,” Holly Campbell wrote on the Palm Coast Observer’s Facebook page. My kids “Just because you qualify doesn't mean you take advantage. But it's nice to know if my son forgets his lunch that he won't go hungry.
And sometimes families that wouldn’t ordinarily use the program do so after a short-term setback.
“I had a major knee surgery back in September. For a short time I was one who had to use this benefit or my kids wouldn’t eat,” resident Donna Miller Coleman wrote on the Facebook page. “I had to list everyone in the home and prove income loss and income received. I am still recovering from that surgery which was supposed to make my knee better.”
Another resident, Ailin Sanders, wrote, “Why do people on foodstamps get knocked on? We are a family of 8 both work 2 full time jobs and we qualify for foodstamps....$63 a month!!!! So yeah a free lunch to help me, I appreciate it because $63 isn't even a weeks worth!”
Full price meals will be $1.80 for elementary schoolers, $2.05 for middle schoolers and $2.30 for high schoolers during the 2014-2015 school year.
The money for the program comes not from the school district or the state but from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it’s allocated to districts based on usage numbers from the previous month.
“Once little Johnny Smith comes through the lunch line, and he has what's considered a reimbursable meal, we collect all that data on a monthly basis, and it's submitted through the Department of Agriculture,” she said.
“So it's very much like a restaurant. We don’t get the money unless the kids eat with us.”
Applications for free and reduced lunch are available online at https://mealapps.flaglerschools.com/lfserver/EFORM .
