Schools serve more food than ever with spike in free and reduced lunch participation

Benjamin Woodard | WF

Fewer students are bringing milk money to school this year.

            Participation in the free and reduced fee meal program at nearly every school in the Bellingham School District has steadily increased since the recession began three years ago.

            “There has been a shift in the make up of the program,” said Mark Dalton, school district foodservice manager. “More students are taking advantage of free meals. When you get something for free, you use it a lot more.”

            Dalton said the school district is serving more food rather than more students. As students switch from buying lunches and bringing lunches from home, they tend to eat breakfast and lunch from the school cafeteria every day, he said, resulting in more food running through the school.

            Participation in the free and reduced fee lunches has increased nearly 5 percent district-wide in recent years. Alderwood Elementary, which historically has had the most participants, increased 9 percent from 2008 to 2009 to total 285 students.

            Kulshan Middle School participation has jumped more than 3 percent this year, setting a record at a total of 40 percent of the student body, or 237 students, eating free or reduced lunches.

            Kelly Bashaw, Bellingham School District board member and Whatcom Community College financial aid adviser, said the increase has not been a focus of discussion for the board.

            “Something we see is so many people losing their jobs, so more and more are going back to school,” she said. “A parent who is not working but going to school may be able to qualify for the program.”

Increase is a sign of the times

            Kulshan Parent-Teacher-Student Association co-president Teri McIntyre said the jump in participation is a main concern for the school because it indicates Bellingham families struggling financially.

            “This poses a problem for fundraising and also for parent involvement.” She said. “Parent involvement has decreased because many families are facing financial difficulties and do not have the time to be a part of the school.”

            She said one family, whose parents have been strong volunteers in the past, have stopped volunteering with the PTSA and are now working full time to pay the bills.

            Kulshan Middle School Principal Jeannie Hayden said that the increase in free and reduced lunch participants worries her because of the correlation between low-income families and low WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) scores. From 2005 to 2009, students from low-income families have consistently scored lower than non-low-income students in reading, writing and math.

            “How do we meet the needs of kids if they come from families where they weren’t read to, or they weren’t well cared for? How do we meet them where they are?” Hayden said. “And it’s pretty significant if you have a school at poverty and a school that is high income. You are going to get different issues in terms of educating them.”

            At Kulshan, Hayden said a new schedule is going into effect for the 2010-11 school year that allows about a one-hour period — dubbed an “expansion period” — where students can take an elective class based on their personal learning abilities.

            “It’s a given that students learn at different rates, and they have different needs in terms of levels of support. Some kids are ready to fly. Bring it on, and they’ll take it,” she said. “An expansion for them might be an advanced communication or an advanced math. For others, it might be specific reading support.”

New state requirements boost participation           

            Federal requirements change every year for the free and reduced fee lunch program based on inflation, unemployment and other economic factors. Currently, in order for a family to qualify for free lunches, it must make less than $28,664 a year, or 130 percent of the national poverty level. For reduced lunches, the level is higher at 185 percent, or $40,793.

            Two years ago, the state changed requirements for the Department of Social and Health Services programs, which allows those making 200 percent of the national poverty level to obtain food stamps, Dalton said. Under the lunch program, any family using food stamps gets immediate access to free lunches at schools.

            “Honestly, for the family of two, it comes to about a thousand dollars a year to buy school lunches [at full price],” Dalton said, “so, for a family, it is a lot of money. And feeding kids is an import goal. I have no qualms with that.”


Interesting links:
Raw data for student and school participation

2009-10 Income Guidelines

Additional free and reduced fee program information