thedrifter
04-05-07, 10:34 AM
More students can get low-cost, free lunches
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 5, 2007 11:14:27 EDT
Defense Department school officials are encouraging overseas families to reapply for free or reduced-price school meals following a change in eligibility guidelines that may allow more families to qualify.
The Agriculture Department has raised the family income threshold for qualifying for the free or reduced-price lunches, by authorizing the use of the Alaska Income Eligibility Guidelines in other overseas areas, according to an announcement from the Department of Defense Education Activity.
The income guidelines for Alaska are the highest of the three income schedules used by the Agriculture Department for the school lunch program, which are based on federal poverty guidelines. The other two income schedules cover Hawaii and the continental U.S.
Under the Alaska eligibility guidelines for the 2006-07 school year, a family of four, for example, would qualify for free school lunches if their monthly income is $2,709 or less, compared with an income eligibility limit of $2,167 per month under the current guidelines for the continental U.S.
The change applies to families of children attending Defense Department schools in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Azores, Turkey, Korea and Japan, according to school officials. It does not apply to families of children attending schools in Puerto Rico or Guam, who fall under their state Department of Education programs.
About 40 percent of students in Defense Department schools overseas participate in the school lunch program. Of those, about 21 percent are eligible for reduced-price lunches, 16 percent are eligible for free lunches, and the rest purchase lunches at regular prices, said Department of Defense Education Activity spokesman Frank O’Gara.
He said school officials asked for the change in income eligibility guidelines “because we knew it would be more favorable to families.”
“Life is expensive for military families, particular with the dollar in Europe, so any program that can benefit them financially, and help them with the cost of providing good school lunches for their kids is good,” he said.
He said it’s impossible to predict how many families might qualify now that did not qualify at the beginning of the school year.
The school lunch program meets federal requirements for nutritionally balanced meals, while offering free or reduced-price lunches, and breakfasts where available, to eligible children.
Families can contact their local school liaison officer or their school registrar for information on applying for the free or reduced-price meals at their installations. The installation commands are the approval authority for the free or reduced-price lunches, not the schools.
The Agriculture Department also approved a request from the Department of Defense Education Activity for an increase in the reimbursement rate for the school meals, according to defense school officials.
School lunches overseas are provided by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command, and Marine Corps Community Services. AAFES is the largest, providing 24,000 lunches every school day at 99 schools on Army and Air Force installations in nine countries throughout Europe and the Pacific.
Ellie
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 5, 2007 11:14:27 EDT
Defense Department school officials are encouraging overseas families to reapply for free or reduced-price school meals following a change in eligibility guidelines that may allow more families to qualify.
The Agriculture Department has raised the family income threshold for qualifying for the free or reduced-price lunches, by authorizing the use of the Alaska Income Eligibility Guidelines in other overseas areas, according to an announcement from the Department of Defense Education Activity.
The income guidelines for Alaska are the highest of the three income schedules used by the Agriculture Department for the school lunch program, which are based on federal poverty guidelines. The other two income schedules cover Hawaii and the continental U.S.
Under the Alaska eligibility guidelines for the 2006-07 school year, a family of four, for example, would qualify for free school lunches if their monthly income is $2,709 or less, compared with an income eligibility limit of $2,167 per month under the current guidelines for the continental U.S.
The change applies to families of children attending Defense Department schools in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Azores, Turkey, Korea and Japan, according to school officials. It does not apply to families of children attending schools in Puerto Rico or Guam, who fall under their state Department of Education programs.
About 40 percent of students in Defense Department schools overseas participate in the school lunch program. Of those, about 21 percent are eligible for reduced-price lunches, 16 percent are eligible for free lunches, and the rest purchase lunches at regular prices, said Department of Defense Education Activity spokesman Frank O’Gara.
He said school officials asked for the change in income eligibility guidelines “because we knew it would be more favorable to families.”
“Life is expensive for military families, particular with the dollar in Europe, so any program that can benefit them financially, and help them with the cost of providing good school lunches for their kids is good,” he said.
He said it’s impossible to predict how many families might qualify now that did not qualify at the beginning of the school year.
The school lunch program meets federal requirements for nutritionally balanced meals, while offering free or reduced-price lunches, and breakfasts where available, to eligible children.
Families can contact their local school liaison officer or their school registrar for information on applying for the free or reduced-price meals at their installations. The installation commands are the approval authority for the free or reduced-price lunches, not the schools.
The Agriculture Department also approved a request from the Department of Defense Education Activity for an increase in the reimbursement rate for the school meals, according to defense school officials.
School lunches overseas are provided by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command, and Marine Corps Community Services. AAFES is the largest, providing 24,000 lunches every school day at 99 schools on Army and Air Force installations in nine countries throughout Europe and the Pacific.
Ellie