Economy to Blame for Increased Use of the Free and Reduced Lunch Program in Inver Grove Heights Schools

Why are more and more students using the Inver Grove Heights School District’s free and reduced lunch program, despite an overall decline in the district’s enrollment?

The answer is simple, district officials say. It’s the economy.

In 2007, 882 students were signed up for the free and reduced lunch program, which is a form of economic assistance for qualifying low-income families in the district. By 2010, that number had jumped to 1,163 students — or 31 percent of the district’s total student enrollment. Compare that increase to the district’s total enrollment, which has fallen 8.67 percent over the last 10 years.

Those numbers don’t surprise Inver Grove Heights School District Business Manager Rimstad or Food Service Director Cathi Krick, who said they anticipated that more families, hit by the recession, would turn to the free and reduced lunch program to save money.

“People who had full time jobs may have had their hours reduced, and then they qualify for reduced lunch. Or someone may have lost their job through no fault of their own and now has to apply for free lunch so their children can eat,” Rimstad said.

Students in Inver Grove Heights typically pay between $1.65 and $1.80 for a single school lunch, depending on their grade level. To apply for free or reduced lunch, families must meet certain federal household size and yearly income guidelines. Students who are enrolled in the district’s reduced lunch program pay just 40 cents for a meal, Krick said, while students who meet the federal guidelines for the free lunch program are not charged at all for their meals. Families must apply by Oct. 1 of each school year for the program, which renews annually.

The program is a good indicator of the economic conditions facing families in the community, Rimstad said. Even small changes in the local economy — a strike or layoffs at a local business — can be reflected by fluctuations in the program’s enrollment, Rimstad said.

The free and reduced lunch program’s cost is entirely covered by federal funding, which means that increases in the use of the program do not impact the district’s finances, Rimstad said. Students who receive free and reduced lunch are also eligible for reduced school athletic and activity fees.

Inver Grove Heights isn’t the only district that has witnessed an increase in the program’s use in recent years. Roughly 306,000 students statewide — or 36.6 percent of school-age children in Minnesota — currently use the program, according to a recent report by Minnesota Public Radio. That number represents a 12 percent jump over two years ago.

District officials are seeing the impact of the economy in other facets of the schools’ lunch program, as well. Fewer students in the district are purchasing á la carte items like ice cream sundaes or brownies, because the items are not part of the regular menu and cost extra money, Krick said.

“Parents do not have the disposable income anymore,” Krick said.

“The redeeming thing form my perspective is that we’re feeding people that need help,” Rimstad said. “When the economy in the nation and the state get better, we won’t have to do that, but right now we can offer something for people in need.”