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School Meal Eligibility Guidelines

Participation Guidelines

School meal programs provide per meal cash reimbursements to schools. All public and nonprofit private schools (regardless of tuition) and all Residential Child Care Institutions can participate in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program. All students in these schools may participate in these meal programs. School food authorities can also be reimbursed for snacks served to children through age 18 in after school educational or enrichment programs. In addition to cash reimbursements, schools also receive commodity foods, at a value of about 15¢ for each meal served. Schools can also get "bonus" commodities as they are available from surplus agricultural stocks.

Vermont Information

In Vermont, 95 percent of schools offer the federal lunch program and the average daily participation in school lunch for the state is about 50,000 students (or about half of the total enrollment). The School Breakfast Program is available in 91 percent of the 319 public schools in the state, and the average daily participation is about 17 percent of total enrollment. Unfortunately, many students do not participate in the school breakfast program for a variety of reasons, which include but are not limited to: not enough time is provided to eat; buses get children to school too late to participate; the school does not promote the program; the menu does not provide foods they will eat. The Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger is working to reduce all barriers to participation in school meal programs.

Eligibility

Household income determines whether they receive free meals, reduced price meals, or "paid" meals, for which students pay most of the cost. The price for reduced-price meals is set nationally at 30¢ for breakfast and 40¢ for lunch. Local school food authorities set their own prices for full-price (paid) meals, but must operate their meal services as non-profit programs.

Income Guidelines

Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Families with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals.

Income eligibility guidelines for the 2006-2007 school year: