As of last week, students in Fannin County will pay more for school lunches come August. Recommended by Nutrition Director Candice Sisson and approved by the Board of Education at its May meeting, the move is compliant with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. According to the motion passed by the board last week, the federal legislation will force an increase of ten cents to school meals for paying students, that is, for students who do not qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Students in the free and reduced program, however, will retain the same benefits.

During the meeting last week, Ms. Sisson delivered an explanation of the increase. She said the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act is so new that changes are still trickling down.

“One of these changes,”

she said,

“is called paid lunch equity.”

Sisson explained paid lunch equity is designed to ensure that efficient funds are provided for students not eligible for free and reduced lunches. In a March 19th memo to regional nutritional directors, the USDA explained,

“There are two ways to meet this requirement: either through the prices charged for ‘paid’ lunches or through other non-Federal sources provided to the nonprofit school food service account.”

However, for financially strained districts, due to state austerity cuts in funding, impending healthcare increases, cuts in Title I Federal Funding, and recessional economies, “non-Federal sources” appears less of an option.

Speaking to the board and superintendent, Sisson said she received a calculation tool in the form of a spreadsheet from the USDA.

“We had to calculate in the current school year’s prices in order to come up with next year’s prices,”

she said.

The increase will be applied to students not enrolled in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program, “paying students,” and visitors (children and adults). Elementary students will now pay $1.65, where last year they paid $1.55; Middle and High School students will now pay $1.90; visiting children and adults will pay $2.75, where previously they paid $2.65. The breakfast program, however, is still free of charge.

On the heels of the increase approval was a discussion regarding the Free and Reduced Lunch program. As of October 31, 2011, 61 percent of Fannin County students were enrolled in the program, Sisson said. Responding, Board Member Lewis DeWeese commented,

“Some people were ashamed (of receiving free or reduced lunches), but they don’t realize, it helps the school system if they accept it.”

Superintendent Henson corroborated this point. In a recent conversation with FYN, Henson confirmed the higher the percent of students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Program, the more federal funding the district receives in other areas, notably Title I funding, a source of funding that also could get cut as high as 15 percent in the near future, according to some sources.