Students across the nation have an opportunity to participate in free and reduced lunch programs for varied school districts. Those who qualify, about 21.5 million in the US, have low income, large family size or a combination of both. In 15 years, the percentage of students who qualify has jumped 24 percent, giving light to a much larger poverty issue than America has ever known.

In the year 2000, free and reduced lunch qualifiers in Omaha Public Schools were around 50 percent of the student population. This school year, 74 percent of the students have access to this type of lunch. Carla Noerrlinger, the Executive Director of Research for the Omaha Public School District, noted that this increase in numbers is most likely due to economic changes. People being laid off their jobs and the drop in the stock market may have affected income and ultimately, the amount of students who qualify.

“There seems to be many demographic changes in our district as well. If you take a look at our numbers for instance, we have a growing number of refugee students that are coming into our school district” Noerrlinger explained, “so it is very likely that most of them participate in free and reduced lunch.”

The qualification of students is determined by income and number of family members per household. Parents apply through the district if their children are eligible. Marilyn Peterson, from the Nebraska Department of Education, explained a recent change in regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This change, called the Community Eligibility Provision, will allow schools to provide meals to students in poverty without their parent’s permission.

“If the percentage of poverty is high enough, all the students in the school are provided free meals,” said Peterson. “This ‘eligibility for free and reduced meals’ was always the indicator of poverty used for many purposes.” School districts use free and reduced lunch statistics to determine poverty in certain areas, rather than census data. Also, the student achievement data is recorded for the distribution of state and federal funds.

The comparison between free and reduced lunch have dramatic changes in data. Out of the 51,070 students in OPS that qualify for this lunch 1,381 attend Central. This means that 57.7 percent of students at this school take part in the program. Of this percentage, only 10 percent participate in reduced lunch, whereas the remaining 47.7 percent are on free.

The possibility of taking part in free and reduced lunch proves extremely beneficial to all those that qualify. Tammy Yarmon, the Director of Nutrition Services for the Omaha Public Schools “We have children who do not have food at home and the meals they receive here may be the only meals they get all day,” said Yarmon. “Some children may not receive fresh fruits and vegetables at home.”

There is a small drop in the percentage of students in elementary and middle school who qualify in comparison to high school. There is the possibility of there being a stigma with free and reduced lunch, and some who qualify don’t always apply. However, this also may be due to lack of knowledge from the parent or the student may simply decide not to apply.

Predicting the poverty levels with free and reduced lunch is currently the most effective way to look into the poor in Omaha. Often, poverty can predict achievement in schools. Those who cannot afford supplies or study tools may have lower achievement scores. “So often, there are challenges that come from students who live in poverty that differs from students that don’t. An example of that, at the youngest level is there’s even a difference in terms of the amount of exposure to books and extra experiences that help increase in language and that of course impact school,” said Noerrlinger. “So no one’s saying that there’s a difference in terms of students’ potential, it just creates inequities in terms of experience which can effect, and does effect, achievement in school.”

Ultimately, free and reduced lunch may sufficiently aid with the economic situation of many students who qualify. Although some of the guidelines might be changed in the future, there is expected to be an increase of students utilizing the program. Despite any adaptations to free and reduced lunch, it continues to impact the lives of those in need.