Students from households unable to pay full price for school lunches can apply for free or reduced lunch or free milk from the National School Lunch, School Breakfast and Special Milk programs.
Households that earn 185 percent or less of the federal poverty guidelines are eligible for reduced-price lunch, while households that earn 130 percent or less are eligible for free lunch. For a family of four, the federal poverty line is $23,850 annual income. That means a family of four with annual income at or below $44,123 will be eligible for at least reduced-price lunch.
Families return completed application forms to their schools and can apply at any time during the year, according to the IDOE. That qualification is meant to include households that may not be eligible for subsidized lunches at the beginning of the year but have a change in household income or size during the school year.
According to the Kids Count Data Center, an increasing number of students in Monroe County have been enrolled for free lunch since 2010, while the number of students receiving reduced-price lunch has dropped.
The number of students in Monroe County receiving free or reduced-price lunches at school has remained at about 37 percent from 2012 to 2014.
That’s lower than the state rate of 48.7 percent in 2014, according to the Kids Count Data Center.
Monroe County Community School Corporation has 31.3 percent of its students enrolled in the free lunch program, according to the IDOE Compass data center, while 5.8 percent are receiving reduced-price lunches.
Students from households receiving Food Stamp or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families assistance will be automatically enrolled for free meals and do not need to complete an application.
Local school corporation offices have copies of the guildines that can be ?reviewed.
Tori Fater
