LPS sees jump in free lunch participants

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BY MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star

The number of Lincoln Public Schools students participating in the free- and reduced-price lunch program spiked this year by nearly 22 percent.

The federal lunch program is the main tool school districts use to gauge students living in poverty.

This year, 12,760 students kindergarten-12th grade are participating, compared to 10,492 last year, according to Aaron Babcock, LPS communications specialist.

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(LJS File)

(LJS File)

That means 38 percent of LPS students are participating, compared to 32.9 percent last year. That’s a significantly higher jump than the previous six years.

The reason for the increase �” more than three times last year’s increase �” is unclear.

There’s been no change in the way eligibility is determined by the federal government, said Connie Stefkovich, administrator of nutrition services with the state Department of Education.

Every year, the guidelines are set based on federal poverty levels. This year, children are eligible for free lunch if their family income is 130 percent of the poverty line; students get lunch at a reduced price if their family income is 185 percent of the poverty line.

According to the Feb. 27, 2007, Federal Register, a family of three qualifies for free lunches if its annual income is no more than $22,321. A family of three qualifies for reduced-price lunches if its annual income is no more than $31,765.

Full-cost lunch for a Lincoln grade school pupil is $1.90. The reduced-price lunch cost is 90 cents.

School officials and those who work with low-income families say the increase in participation is likely a reflection of a struggling economy.

“We’ve been hearing a lot from the schools,” said Scott Young,�  executive director of the Lincoln Food Bank.

This year,�  738 elementary school children participate in the Food Bank/LPS Backpack Program, which provides food for children and families who might otherwise go hungry during the weekend. The students come from 14 public and private schools in Lincoln, Seward and Milford.

The need always exceeds the backpacks and so it’s hard to gauge how the increase in free- and reduced-price lunch numbers plays out, Young said.

“We fall short in all of our public schools,” Young said. “We’re not even coming close.”

Marilyn Moore, LPS associate superintendent of instruction, said she hadn’t seen the numbers but speculated that the economy is to blame for the increase.

“I would speculate that the economic downturn in some segments of the community might have affected it,” she said.

The LPS student population increased just a little over 1 percent this year, she said. And while the kindergarten class is large, it’s just 100 kids more than last year’s kindergarten enrollment.

The percentage of students who participate in the free- and reduced-price lunch program tends to decrease as students get older. Last year, the largest percentages were in first and second grades.

Young said the federal lunch program numbers are often used to support some economists’ theory that the lower end of the middle class is slipping into poverty.

“I would say there’s nothing unique to Lincoln,” he said. “Food prices have suddenly spiked, fuel prices are killing people.”

A study last year by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities�  showed that the percentage of national income that went to wages and salaries in the first half of the year was at the lowest level since 1929. In contrast, the percentage that went to corporate profits was at its highest level since 1950.

The 25-year-old center works at federal and state levels on policies and programs that affect low- and moderate-income persons.

Elliott Elementary Principal�  De Ann Currin said free- and reduced-price lunch numbers at her school went up slightly but not significantly. The percentage of students at Elliott who participate in the food program has hovered between about 85 and 90 percent for a number of years, she said.

Currin said many families at Elliott struggle to meet basic needs: food, clothing, gas, transportation and paying utilities.

Holidays are a particularly tough time, she said, because students often don’t know exactly what that time away from school will hold for them, Currin said.

But the community always responds, at the holidays but other times, too, she said.

“This community is so loving that when we have a need we can say it and someone will respond,” she said.

Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com