The 2009 data from the United States Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) indicate that demand for school lunches nationwide have reached an all time high. The federal government has been involved in the National School Lunch Program since the 1946-47 school year. Since the humble beginning of this program to present day, over 30.5 million children now are fed in America’s schools with over 101,000 of our nation’s schools participating in the subsidized federal program. Since the modern program began, more than 214 billion lunches have been served. Dinwiddie County Public Schools, Virginia, all participate in the federal program and we serve about 750,000 meals per year.
Public or nonprofit private schools of high school grade or under and public or nonprofit private residential child care institutions may participate in the school lunch program. School districts and independent schools that choose to take part in the lunch program get cash subsidies and donated commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for each meal they serve. In return, they must serve lunches that meet Federal requirements, and they must offer free or reduced price lunches to eligible children. School food authorities can also be reimbursed for snacks served to children through age 18 in afterschool educational or enrichment programs.
Any child at a participating school may purchase a meal through the National School Lunch Program. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Those with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals, for which students can be charged no more than 40 cents. (For the period July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009, 130 percent of the poverty level is $27,560 for a family of four; 185 percent is $39,220.) Children from families with incomes over 185 percent of poverty pay a full price, though their meals are still subsidized to some extent. Local school food authorities set their own prices for full-price (paid) meals, but must operate their meal services as non-profit programs
Most of the support USDA provides to schools in the National School Lunch Program comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each meal served. The current (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009) basic cash reimbursement rates if school food authorities served less than 60% free and reduced price lunches during the second preceding school year are:
Free lunches: $2.57
Reduced-price lunches: $2.17
Paid lunches: $0.24
In addition to cash reimbursements, schools are entitled by law to receive commodity foods, called "entitlement" foods, at a value of 20.75 cents for each meal served in Fiscal Year 2008-2009. Schools can also get "bonus" commodities as they are available from surplus agricultural stocks. Through Team Nutrition USDA provides schools with technical training and assistance to help school food service staffs prepare healthful meals, and with nutrition education to help children understand the link between diet and health.
The average cost to produce a typical school lunch is $ 2.92 per meal. With the maximum federal reimbursement at $ 2.57 per meal, the average difference is $ -0.35per meal. This is a real problem for school lunch program participants as the cost difference must be made up at the local school district level. Additional variables drive the production cost of meals higher including the increasing costs of goods, labor, health insurance and benefits for employees, and ever-rising energy expenses. These factors typically drive the percentage of doing business higher than the potential revenue stream.
Many school divisions have been forced to raise the cost of a breakfast or lunch item over the past few years in an attempt to operate at the required not-for-profit level. In Dinwiddie County we have increased the cost of a breakfast meal from $ 1.10 to $ 1.25 and a lunch from $ 1.85 to $ 2.00 for the 2009-10 school year. The costs for eligible students under the federal guidelines will be underwritten as in the past. Students who meet the criteria will continue to receive free or reduced priced meals accordingly. Please do not forget that in Virginia, as in many states, the school cafeteria accounts are separate from the regular school budget. This means that the cafeteria services need to operate at or near a profit and must not operate at a loss. The cafeteria is a self-sustaining business operation by law and can be viewed as separate and apart from the regular school budget.
The challenges for public schools are increasing as more demands are placed upon us to provide basic services for children. We embrace the dual role of providers and educators for the youth of America. The state and federal government must recognize the ever-increasing costs of educating children in modern-day society and begin to play a more significant role in the development of resources and increased funding for public education. Absent the adequate support of all three partners (federal, state, and local) we will be hard-pressed to continue delivering essential services and providing for the basic needs of the children who enter our public schools.
