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How does one qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program? I understand its based on your income and family size, but do they also take into consideration your expenses? What if you have huge medical bills, Cobra, two house payments because one won't sell, etc?
I figure we could save about $120/month if we could get on the school lunch program, but can't make the online form work, and don't want to ask at the school office. I don't want to go through the whole application process and expose our situation if we don't have a chance of qualifying, anyways. Basically, ur income looks ok until you look at our exepnses.
How does one qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program? I understand its based on your income and family size, but do they also take into consideration your expenses? What if you have huge medical bills, Cobra, two house payments because one won't sell, etc?
I figure we could save about $120/month if we could get on the school lunch program, but can't make the online form work, and don't want to ask at the school office. I don't want to go through the whole application process and expose our situation if we don't have a chance of qualifying, anyways. Basically, ur income looks ok until you look at our exepnses.
Call the district office for your school system. First, they are usually the ones who actually process the paperwork, not the school. Second, they are usually bound by strict confidentuality rules. Third, your case is not unique, so they can probably offer proven guidance and alternative ideas if need be.
But, yes, it is a long shot if you are having to factor in your expenses to get to the qualifying level.
I highly doubt they will factor in expenses. If that were the case, many children with parents who have high debt would be on the school lunch program.
As a tax paying citizen, I would be upset if my tax money was spent on families who got themselves into heavy debt.
Feeding children should be the most important thing in a tight budget, not the first thing cut from a budget.
When you consider that this is about FEEDING children, the other debts are irrelevant. I'd go bankrupt before I didn't feed my children.
The government isn't going to help people feed their children so they can have or maintain a higher standard of living.
The lunch program is meant for families who do not have the means to feed their children due to extremely low income.
It might work differently in every district, but with ours it's based on money per person in the home, if that makes sense. So say I'm making 32k a year and I have 4 people in my family. Then each person would be considered to have 8k a year.
Ask the school office. I don't see why you don't want to do that. If you are serious about getting your kids on the school lunch program, that would be the way to do it. Or ask the district office if the school office does not have sufficent information.
If you are going through a real hard medical crisis, that should be considered.. Just make sure you have the paperwork to back up what you write on the form. I use to be a school cafeteria manager and while I doing the applications was not my job, I know hardship cases were approved.
As for worrying about them knowing your business once you put it on the application, I wouldn't worry about that, you are just another application to be looked at and nobody keeps notes because there are just to many to look at.
When I worked at the school, the first day of school, every child was given a application to take home.. I think the government required it. However, many children thew them away and they never made it home so the parents would come to school and pick them up themselves. I was required to keep some in the cafeteria also.
Be warned again, have the paperwork to back up what you put on the forms. That is federal money and the feds require that a certain percentage has to bring in paperwork to back up what it on the forms.
Don't be ashamed, you are not in that boat alone! At my school the paying kids wanted free lunches too and would get upset when their parents would refuse to fill out the applications for free lunches..
It is based on income and family size. For fiscal year 2010, a family of four would qualify for free lunch if their annual income was 28,665 or less. For reduced lunch, the income would have to be 40,793 or less.
How does one qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program? I understand its based on your income and family size, but do they also take into consideration your expenses? What if you have huge medical bills, Cobra, two house payments because one won't sell, etc?
I figure we could save about $120/month if we could get on the school lunch program, but can't make the online form work, and don't want to ask at the school office. I don't want to go through the whole application process and expose our situation if we don't have a chance of qualifying, anyways. Basically, ur income looks ok until you look at our exepnses.
You could probably save more it you just pack their lunch
You could probably save more it you just pack their lunch
Agreed. School food not that good and often ends up in the garbage can anyway.
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