Brandon Twp.- More than one in every four children attending school here are receiving free or reduced price lunches, the highest number Suzanne Evenson has seen as director of food services for the district.
‘The numbers change daily? I get up to five applications per day,? she said. ‘In the past, the most we had was 19 percent of our students enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program. This year, it jumped to 26 percent. It’s been progressively increasing for the last several years because of people losing their jobs. (Parents) feel very fortunate it’s here and I feel great being able to offer it.?
A report recently released by the Oakland County Intermediate School District compares the number of students receiving free and reduced price lunches in 28 school districts, with data from 1999 and 2007.
In Brandon in 1999, the district had a total enrollment of 3,551 students, with 360 of those receiving free or reduced price lunches. In 2007, total enrollment had increased by 63 students, but the number of students partaking in the federally-funded free or reduced price lunch program had jumped to 825.
The amount of money the district receives in at-risk funding from the state is based on the number of children in the district receiving free and reduced price meals. For the 2008-09 school year, the district will get $368,954 in at-risk funds, an increase of $80,000 from last year.
‘The money we received in at-risk funds is a double-edged sword, because it means we have more students economically at-risk, but also means we have more money to address their needs,? said Superintendent Lorrie McMahon.
Eligibility in the free and reduced price lunch program is determined by family income and the number of people living in the household. A family of four with an annual household income less than $27,560 is eligible for the free lunch program or could receive the reduced price lunch if they earn less than $39,220 per year. The cost of a reduced price lunch is 40 cents. A reduced price breakfast, which students are also eligible for in the program, is 30 cents.
‘We offer this program to feed our children,? Evenson said. ‘In some cases, breakfast and lunch could be the only meals that these children are getting.?
Evenson has had to turn away four or five families who have applied for the program because their income was too high, but she urges families in need to apply even when they don’t qualify, because the guidelines increase every year.
‘We don’t want any students to go hungry,? she said.