I guess it's a new government program. Community eligibility something? I don't think it is every district. I was surprised we had it. Apparently over 40% of our district would qualify for free or reduced lunch. It's the first year, and they have no idea if it will continue. I think it is nice that the parents won't have to jump through hoops, or that there won't be a stigma for the children who need help. Or even better the parents who don't qualify for free or reduced, but would still struggle to make ends meet. I took her in early this morning and there were so many kids there eating breakfast.
DD was the most excited about getting to pick her own food at lunch on Friday. A whole first day at school and lunch is what she wouldn't quit talking about.
Of course I heard people complaining about it a few days ago, and apparently we are supposed to be upset with Michelle Obama about this one.
Post by balletofangels on Aug 12, 2014 10:41:46 GMT -5
We've had this for two years. Breakfast and lunch. It is awesome not having to collect money! A menu still goes home and lunches can be sent from home if they don't like the choice. I agree, often there are families who work so hard and do not receive any assistance. This is a HUGE help for them.
Just a note, in order to maintain eligibility we do still have to get the paperwork filled out from families and kids are still technically defined as free/reduced lunch in their student profiles -- but this is used for data purposes and isn't by any means public data. I have to disaggregate my classroom data based on free/reduced lunch and so that is the only time I look at this.
DD2's school has this also and I am loving it. I paid about $500 a year for her since she has been in school. Our high school does not have it right now though.
Post by amberlyrose on Aug 12, 2014 10:46:54 GMT -5
Our whole school was free and reduced when I was in elementary. I remember moving to a nicer school in 5th grade and having to pay for my lunch and didn't like doing that.
Our entire district has free breakfast in the classroom, and I soon realized that it's so nice not having to rush to get her fed before we get out the door. Obviously I love that it's helpful for all the families who truly need it, but I hadn't thought about the "perk" of it on our end.
Post by UMaineTeach on Aug 12, 2014 10:51:25 GMT -5
We have free breakfast and a fruit and veggie grant based on free/reduced population. There really isn't any stigma around free lunch in my district. First of all, it's assumed you have free lunch, we had to have some crazy high number to get the fruit grant. Second, all the kids do is give their names to the lunch computer teacher, no money/tickets/tokens change hands at POS.
The food service supervisor handles the money and the billing, teachers don't count lunch money - just send it to the office, who sends it to the food services director. Teachers might hand out bills to go home, but the paper is stapled, so the teacher only knows the name of the student and no other details about how much they owe.
Post by lilafowler on Aug 12, 2014 10:52:21 GMT -5
It's wonderful! My mom works for a local school system's Food Services department and she's encouraging us to use the meals program when we move since they NEED participation to continue to receive funding.
She also handles the reduced/free lunch applications and she said said so many people qualify nowadays (we always qualified as kids for free or reduced so my mom obviously has no judgement).
And a big LOL at my mom-since they've started overhauling school menus she's taken it super personal and keeps getting upset that Michelle Obama said they weren't good enough. She doesn't even work in the kitchens anymore! Ma, get real.
Post by workaholic on Aug 12, 2014 10:58:55 GMT -5
I think its a fantastic program. My mom was too proud to apply for the free/reduced lunch program even though we would quality. We went to school with little for breakfast and no lunches. I can still remember how loudly my stomach growled the entire day. It was humiliating. I only wish these programs existed for me but I'm very grateful its implemented for your district. Really great idea.
And a big LOL at my mom-since they've started overhauling school menus she's taken it super personal and keeps getting upset that Michelle Obama said they weren't good enough. She doesn't even work in the kitchens anymore! Ma, get real.
Yeah, this is another "complaint". That the kids don't like the healthy food. I get the kids that have eaten junk for years at school might resist change. But the young kids will never expect anything else, which is good. I love the school lunch overhaul. I was horrified when watching jamie Oliver's show about school lunches.
Post by trixiedicksnatch on Aug 12, 2014 12:55:44 GMT -5
In middle school I was on reduced lunch and had a different card than everyone else and I was too embarrassed to use it. So i never ate at school. I lost 15 lbs in sixth grade.
DD was the most excited about getting to pick her own food at lunch on Friday. A whole first day at school and lunch is what she wouldn't quit talking about.
Post by textbookcase on Aug 12, 2014 13:08:54 GMT -5
Our community has the free lunch and breakfast program for all kids, even children not in the school system. It's a great program for those in need. They even encourage those who AREN'T in need to go eat breakfast, etc. There are two centers in town where all children up to age 18 can eat for free.
Our district has that. We got robo calls all summer long reminding us to use the service. I wasn't sure what to do, on the one hand, our income doesn't justify a free lunch. On the other hand, I think there are "utilization requirements" to renew the program from year to year. One of the messages sort of implied this, at least. I think a certain percentage of enrolled students in the district need to use the program or it gets cancelled. At least this is what I surmised. I almost thought we should go get free lunch just so the district could meet their goals but the times weren't convenient for us.
We took advantage of the free lunch program last year for the girls, when they were still under foster care, even though we could technically afford to pay for them. The schools get additional funding for their lunch program and I'm not against funding for schools. We had a week of "free breakfast" that we weren't able to get to school for and I'm really sad that we didn't, because if we had enough response we would also benefit from this program, for the 10% of our students that would do so. Hopefully that 10% still does benefit from free breakfast/lunch.
Our district has that. We got robo calls all summer long reminding us to use the service. I wasn't sure what to do, on the one hand, our income doesn't justify a free lunch. On the other hand, I think there are "utilization requirements" to renew the program from year to year. One of the messages sort of implied this, at least. I think a certain percentage of enrolled students in the district need to use the program or it gets cancelled. At least this is what I surmised. I almost thought we should go get free lunch just so the district could meet their goals but the times weren't convenient for us.
The more people that use it, the more funding you get. They don't care if you can afford it, so unless they don't like the lunch being served or you're nutritionally opposed to the food being served, it's more harmful than helpful to abstain from the program. I don't know anything about summer programs, but I've read and have seen in the news that they need people to participate, regardless of their income or affordability.
They didn't come right out and say this, but is kind of what I suspected from the calls. Unfortunately, my son was in OT and Speech camp all summer that took us an hour away from home between 8am-1pm so the poor kid ate all his meals in his car seat. Free cafeteria lunch would have been high end compared to what he got all summer.
My grandmother ran an elementary school cafeteria for years. She retired in the 80s, so nowhere near the programs and assistance we have now. Raising her family of 10 alone, she often took leftovers home for her own children to eat. Knowing that kind of agony and hunger, she fed every kid in that school whether they could pay or not. The principals helped her with budgeting so the school could help those kids who couldn't afford a meal.
I think these types of across-the-board assistance programs really go a long way. I hope the whole district is better for it.