Millions of families nationwide have not had to pay for lunch in public schools and nonprofit private schools. Unless changes are made in a federal program before the school year, most students will need to fill their pockets with lunch money again.
17-year-old Laura Parden, a soon-to-be senior at Lincoln Northeast High School, enjoyed not having to carry around money for lunch.
“I appreciate being able to go to lunch and not to worry about paying,” Pardon said.
Laura and her twin siblings, Sarah and Ryan Parden, 14, received free meals at school over the past two years.
“It’s got to save about $200 a month easily–doing the free lunches,” Penny VanLear said, mother of Laura, Sarah, and Ryan Parden. “Because, they would get free breakfast, and they would get free lunches.”
The U.S. Congress passed the “Keep Kids Fed Act,” which returns the school lunch program to an income-based system. The act passed just days before the universal free lunch program was scheduled to end June 30.
VanLear was shocked and panicked to hear the news.
“Crap, I got to reach out [and] figure out the budget,” she said.
Who qualifies?
Penny VanLear works two jobs. One at H&R Block where she’s been for 12 years. The other at the City of Lincoln’s Treasury office.
VanLear said they didn’t have to worry about paying for lunches before the pandemic.
“We were still qualifying for free at that point, with the four kids,” VanLear said.
Adam, 19, has since graduated and goes to Southeast Community College in Lincoln.
Now with three dependents instead of four, VanLear is put into a different income bracket. She fears her three kids won’t qualify for free lunches.
“In order to get the free and reduced [with four kids], you had to make less than $42,000 a year,” VanLear said. “I make about $40,000, because they count gross [income], plus child support.”
“I was just barely under the limit. And now that I have three kids, I won’t qualify, because it goes down to $37,000,” she said.
Currently, households making less than 130% of the poverty line qualify for free lunches, according to the state Department of Education. For example, in a four-person household, the poverty line is $27,750…130% of that income line equals $36,075. Therefore, four-person households making less than $36,075 before taxes get free lunch.
For households making between 130% and 185% of the poverty line, their children qualify for a discounted $0.40 per lunch price and $0.30 per breakfast price. The poverty line is updated annually by the Department of Health and Human Services.
45.2% of Nebraska public school students from the 2018-19 school year received free or reduced lunch. That’s 147,328 students.
The United States Department of Agriculture released its annual report on free and reduced lunches detailing who qualifies. The report is derived from rules set by Congress and the department of health’s poverty determinations.
USDA issues the lunch price eligibility guidelines at the start of July. It’s based-off poverty reports published six months prior.
Some school districts get free lunch for all students. A school can apply to become a Community Eligible Provision school, if more than 40% of its students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. USDA selects the schools who need complete meal reimbursement the most. The program started in 2014.
Omaha Public Schools is approved as a CEP. Each student at OPS will receive free lunch this school year through the 2024-25 school year. There are 22 total districts in Nebraska that qualified for CEP in 2021-22.
Inflation: ‘Families are having to scramble’
VanLear’s kids will qualify for reduced price lunches, per the active rules. However, lunches alone will cost her about $25 more per month than she planned. It would cost her about $170 per month to pay for full-priced school lunches.
“I still have a house payment of $1000 a month,” she said. “I still have a car payment, even though it’s only $260 a month.”
That’s not to mention historically high everyday costs and steadily high inflation rates.
“With the price of gas going up drastically and the price of food going up drastically, we have to shift everything and either pick up more hours at work or cut expenses somewhere, and we’ve already cut as many expenses as we can,” VanLear said.
VanLear and her kids currently live in Garland, Nebraska, a 216-person village northwest of Lincoln. They make the 26 minute commute to Lincoln for work and school.
“I couldn’t afford to rent right now, because I have a four bedroom house,” VanLear said. “That’s gonna be $1400-1500 here in town (Lincoln).”
One thing that helps her with food costs is living in a rural area. It gives VanLear a chance to be more self-sufficient.
“We have a big garden this year,” she said. “We have chicken, so we eat a lot of eggs.”
VanLear said she visits the fruit and vegetable truck at the Food Bank of Lincoln when needed.
