LOWELL — It turns out there is such a thing as a free lunch — and breakfast — and it’s coming to all Lowell Public School students this school year.
With the help of federal funding, all students will receive two free meals each school day regardless of their income.
The change is praised as a huge win for a school district where 74 percent of students are classified as low-income.
“This is going to be a major benefit for the middle class,” said Superintendent of Schools Salah Khelfaoui. “Particularly for the people who usually had to pay for lunches.”
The school district of roughly 14,000 students previously had 76 percent of its students qualify for federal free and reduced lunch, which requires applications or a verfication process known as direct certification.
But an alternative known as the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, allows certain high-need districts to provide free lunch for all students.
To qualify, districts must have at least 40 percent of children listed as “identified students” — those who are homeless, in foster care, already certified for free and reduced lunch, and more.
Lowell is among 32 school districts or charter schools in the state that are eligible for CEP, with an identified student rate of 53 percent.
“The extra beauty of it on our end, from the implementation into the school day, is it’s no change whatsoever,” Khelfaoui said. “The only change is, now we do not have to collect and verify all that data, so it’s a huge relief from the schools.”
The previous administration was concerned that eliminating data on free and reduced lunch might disqualify the district for federal or grant funding, Khelfaoui said.
But in a meeting with state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education officials, Khelfaoui said they learned there is other data the district can use to qualify for various funding.
Khelfaoui said the program will come at no cost to the district, which will eventually receive a 100 percent reimbursement.
“This is going to make a difference in academics,” he said. “Your head works better when you get a full stomach.”
Families won’t need to sign up ahead of time for the meals, as the district will have enough food on hand to feed all students every day. Production methods will minimize the risk of unused food, according to the administration.
The move will also shave off the unpaid meals that the district has to either collect or pay for itself at the end of the school year.
This year, the district paid for $153,783 in uncollected meals.
School Committee member Kim Scott, who pushed for the measure, commended Khelfaoui for implementing the program in a very short period of time as superintendent.
“He just saved so many families so much money,” she said.
The program saves money from an operational standpoint too, she said, noting it eliminates the time staff spent processing free lunch forms.
It’s a battle to get those forms returned every year, she said.
“It’s not that every child that qualifies is getting that coverage from the federal government,” Scott said. “We’re using social workers, we’re using parent liaisons to go in and to get these people to fill out free lunch forms because they know that they can qualify.”
Previously, breakfasts for K-8 students were free but cost 75 cents in high school, or 30 cents at reduced price.
All lunches cost $2.15, or 40 cents at reduced price. At two meals every day, that could amount to $522 to feed a student at the regular rate or $126 at reduced price.
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Previous prices for meals in the Lowell schools before this year’s free coverage for all:
n $0.30 — Reduced breakfast price
n $0.75 — Standard breakfast price
n $0.40 — Reduced lunch price
n $2.15 — Standard lunch price
n $126 — Total yearly amount to feed a child two daily meals at reduced rate
n $522 — Total yearly amount to feed a child two daily meals at standard rate
n $153,783 — Amount in uncollected meal payments for 2014-2015 school year that the district covered with its own money
Source: Lowell Public Schools
