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Students getting free lunches at school kept anonymous

The number of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches is rising in urban and suburban districts, statistics show.

Track the change in the numbers of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches

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By Mark Gokavi, Staff Writer Updated 10:06 PM Thursday, March 4, 2010

The growth of Ohio’s participation in the national school lunch program can be traced to more than just the economy.

The percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-rate meals jumped from 33 percent of K-12 students in 2004 to nearly 42 percent in 2009. Job loss among parents undoubtedly has led to more qualifiers. But other factors include discreet systems that indicate who is in the program and that students from families already receiving aid from programs such as food stamps are being automatically enrolled.

“I think it is considered a reliable measure of student poverty,” said Madeleine Levin, a senior policy analyst at the Food Resource and Action Center, about the increasing program numbers. “We think direct certification is a very good thing because it makes less paperwork for families and for schools and makes sure kids get onto the program as soon as possible.”

Nationally, the program serves about 31 million students and cost $9.3 billion in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. In Ohio, the amount of program qualifiers was 787,338 for the school year that began last fall.

In most local districts, participation rates are higher among non-high school students, according to statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Education.

At Menlo Park Elementary in Huber Heights, the free and reduced rate moved from 31.63 to 51.32 percent from 2004 to 2009. At Kettering’s JFK Elementary, the numbers moved from 42.92 to 56.66 percent. At Beavercreek’s Parkwood Elementary, the rate skyrocketed from 14.85 to 40.97 percent.

“I don’t care if they’re urban, suburban; everybody wants to make sure kids are fed,” said Precious Blood Elementary Principal Dan Mecoli, whose school’s rate rose from 10.32 to 48 percent in that time frame. “Kids when they get older are much more independent, but they still get hungry. But they may forgo some things just because it’s not cool.”

Automated lunch checkout systems give students anonymity about who qualifies and who does not.

“(Most) of the districts around this area have this program or a similar program,” said Jennifer Hoehn, Sugarcreek Local’s general manager of food services. “But a lot of junior high and high school students leave campus.”

The federal lunch program rates have climbed at nearly every type of school in the Dayton area. At Miami Valley Academy, a public school of choice in south Dayton, the free or reduced rate climbed from 71.11 percent in 2007 to 93.68 in 2009.

As a severe need district, Dayton Public Schools report 77.13 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches. The DPS high schools — which range from Stivers’ 52.62 percent to Belmont’s 82.26 percent — charge for lunch as do most schools which get government reimbursement.

In general, schools get $2.68 for every free lunch actually served — not for the number of qualified students — $2.28 for each reduced-price meal and $.25 for each paid lunch. Area administrators say most school lunch programs are built to nearly break even.

But in DPS elementary and middle schools, district policy dictates students are given free lunch whether they qualify for the program. So Stephen Grundy, DPS’s head of nutrition services, has to depend on parents whose children are already getting free lunches to fill out paperwork so the district can be reimbursed. Grundy said that may help explain why some school’s qualifying rates have fallen. “That’s one of the concerns; we have fell short the last couple of years,” Grundy said. “So you hope you serve enough of the free and reduced students to cover that loss.”

Even in the tough economic times, all people aren’t filling out the forms to get aid in which they could receive.

“Maybe more people are now willing to say, ‘Gosh, I need help.’ Which is good,” Mecoli said. “Because if they qualify, they should be getting the help because food’s expensive.”

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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