Over half of local students qualify for free or reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches.
That’s 679 students whose families meet the income guidelines for determining eligibility for Child Nutrition Benefits.
For this coming school year, the number will go up significantly, “probably 200-300″ because of new guidelines that allow children of Medicaid recipients to receive free meals.
That brings it to 879 students out of 1,229, or 71.5%.
“Even then, participation could be higher,” said Judy Baker, outgoing food service director for USD 257 schools. With her is Staci Talkington, who will fill Baker’s shoes when she retires Aug. 31. Talkington hangs on to Baker’s every word.
“It’s a steep learning curve,” Talkington said. Most recently, Talkington served as secretary at Jefferson Elementary School and before that oversaw food service at Allen Community College.
“There’s no food preparation involved in this job. It’s all administrative,” Talkington said.
Turns out, her job at Jefferson was a good training ground for Baker’s job. One of her responsibilities at Jefferson was tracking down families who were delinquent on their children’s meal accounts. She also encouraged children to start their days with a full tummy.
For the last two years, that’s been an easy task. School breakfasts and lunches had been free, courtesy of federal funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning this fall, that funding is no longer available.
Even though in most cases families have been able to receive assistance for school meals, many have refused to follow through with the necessary paperwork, Talkington said.
To be clear, the need is there.
Twenty-four percent of children in Allen County live in poverty.
For a family of four, those living on $36,075 and less can receive free breakfast and lunch; if the income for that same family size is $51,338 or less, their children can receive reduced price benefits, which are significant.
A year of school lunches for an elementary school student averages $486. If they qualify for reduced benefits, that year of school lunches at 40 cents apiece would cost a total of $66, a difference of $420. Add breakfast, at 30 cents apiece, and it’s a difference of $734, from $849.75 to $115.50.
“That number, 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch, has not changed in the 23 years I’ve been with the district,” Baker said.
The reasons many families don’t take advantage of such savings is a combination of things, Baker said.
For some, it’s a hesitancy to share confidential information.
