Half of state’s public school students qualify for meal help

The number — a national measure of poverty — has been climbing in recent years. And it is expected to keep increasing, in part, because new eligibility guidelines will make it easier for families to apply.

The 2004 Tennessee Report Card shows that 49.9 percent of students statewide qualify for the assistance while the state’s food service numbers show a slightly higher 50.1 percent for the same year because their numbers are based on attendance rather than enrollment.

According to the state’s food service data, the percentage of participating students has risen from 42.5 percent in 1998.

State education officials said the numbers might be increasing because parents are better informed about the option. The sagging economy, the Iraq war and military families who lose an income when one parent goes overseas might also contribute.

Many schools send a letter home with each student at the start of the school year and contact families, sometimes through a translator, to make sure they’re aware of the meals option. They also contact children who attempt to skip meals, or charge a lot of meals, to see if they need help.

Starting July 1, parents will be able to fill out a “family” application to cover all their children and will no longer be required to turn in paperwork on each child. All school systems statewide will also be expected to make sure low-income families know about the family option.

Tennessee’s 136 school systems all get a slice of federal funding — called Title I dollars — based, in large part, on the percentage of students who are living at or near poverty. A school’s free and reduced lunch count has long been used as the yardstick for poverty and measuring how many children are “at risk” of failing in school.

“We just want to see if there’s any way we can help,” said Melanie Smiley, director of food service in Cheatham County, where nearly 30 percent of families qualify for the federally funded assistance, which ultimately comes from tax dollars. “We want to feed these children. It may be the only good meal they get all day.”

All Tennessee schools participate in the National School Lunch program, which provides cash and other subsidies to schools that follow nutrition guidelines. Lunch includes bread, milk, meat and two fruits or vegetables while breakfast includes bread, milk, meat, juice and fruit.

“We offer the most nutritious meals at the best prices,” Sarah White, director of school nutrition for the state Department of Education, told The Tennessean newspaper.