Another Smyrna question... Schools and poverty... What's the deal?

[runningncircles1]

Originally Posted by kagmypts

From the source of the data,

"Poverty rate is reported as the percentage of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches who actually took the third grade CRCT test. This percentage is calculated by dividing the number of eligible students who took the tests divided by the total school population who took the tests."

Having said that, I have no idea what qualifies a person/family to receive a free or reduced-price lunch, but I am guessing that it is not the same thing as living below the poverty line.

And the answer to my question about what qualifies a child to be eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches
(from http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/programs/nslp.html): (broken link)

"Eligibility
All public and non-profit private schools (regardless of tuition) and all Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCIs) can participate in the National School Lunch Program. School boards must apply to their state education agency in order to institute a program. All students in these schools may participate in the lunch program. However, household income determines whether they receive free meals, reduced price meals (the maximum price to the student's family is 40 cents), or "paid" meals, for which students pay most of the cost (the federal government pays a modest amount for administrative costs).
For children at participating schools there are two ways to qualify for free or reduced price meals in the NSLP. Both generally require the household to fill out a school meals application and return it to the child's school.

1. If a household currently receives Food Stamps, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), or participates in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) the children in that household are eligible for free school meals for as long as the family receives these other benefits. This is called categorical eligibility. Homeless, runaway and migrant children are also automatically eligible for free school meals.[/SIZE]
2. If a household's total income is below a certain amount, the children in that household can eat free or at a very reduced price. To receive free meals, household income must fall below 130 percent of poverty. For reduced-price meals, household income must be between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level. This is called income-based eligibility.

Some school districts use "direct certification" to qualify children for free meals without requiring the family to submit an application. In these districts, the school works with the State or local Food Stamp, TANF, and FDPIR agencies to identify and certify for school meals (without additional applications) those children in households currently receiving these benefits.
Starting in the 2006-07 school year, school districts with enrollments of over 25,000 students were required to directly certify food stamp students for free school meals. In the 2007-08 school year, districts with over 10,000 students will fall under this requirement, and starting with the 2008-09 school year, all school districts nationwide will be required to directly certify food stamp students for free school meals."

Also, in Cobb County, it's easier to get FRL. My mom made ~40K/yr and we still got it... and that was from late 90s to 2006. So, the poverty rates for many schools are incredibly ballooned and not a great indicator.