Every day, students flood the Redwood cafeteria, eager to get first pick at the wide assortment of meals offered at each station. The vast majority of them will buy food from the Covered Eating Area (CEA) out of choice, perhaps because they didn’t have enough time to pack a lunch from home that morning or simply because they enjoy the meals provided. But some cafeteria-goers receive lunch as a service; as recipients of free or reduced lunch, the CEA food is important to their diet.
Across the country, over 20 million students rely on the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which provides eligible students with free or reduced lunches to satisfy their daily nutritional needs. According to standards set by the United States Department of Agriculture, a family of four must gross a yearly household income below $45,000 for their child to be eligible for a reduced price school lunch. A free lunch is granted to students of households which earn less than $32,000 every year. Over the past decade, the total percentage of eligible students for free and reduced lunch nationwide has steadily risen, from 59.3 percent to 73.3 percent, according to reports by the Food and Nutrition Service.
Marin County, though included in the national program, has not experienced this same staggering rise in student eligibility. In 2015, only 26 percent of students who attend schools in Marin were eligible to receive free or reduced lunch, according to data gathered by the California and U.S. Departments of Education. Kate Lane, Director of Business Services at the Marin County Office of Education, attributes this disparity to economic changes.
“Marin County is an incredibly expensive place to live, so poor people don't even attempt to move here,” Lane said. “During the Great Recession, the cost of rent went down, comparatively, so housing was a lot more affordable for families during the recession years. Now that we’re past that and the economy has picked up, we are seeing a decline in our elementary students [who receive free and reduced lunch].”
And across California, according to Lane, there is a lower level of participation in the NSLP in high schools than there is in middle schools. So even compared to the rest of Marin County, eligibility for the NSLP in the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) is far less common, averaging 10 percent among Redwood, San Andreas, Sir Francis Drake, Tamalpais and Tamiscal High Schools. At Redwood specifically, that number is even lower. The 2017-2018 TUHSD Eligibility Report reveals that just eight percent of the Redwood population meets the requirements for free and reduced lunches.
But while eight percent may seem like an inconsequential minority, the NSLP provides approximately 150 Redwood students with necessary nourishment. Elena Dibble, the Director of Student Nutrition Services for the TUHSD, said that, despite its limited scope, the program is a vital resource for the Redwood community.
“From all the tests that have been done, it's very clear that students who are hungry cannot learn,” Dibble said. “They are distracted. They're not focused. If those kids, that seven or eight percent of kids, don't have the program, they’re not going to be able to learn.”
According to Dibble, a state meal mandate requires the TUHSD to feed any students who are eligible for the program, regardless of how many there are. However, providing meals at no charge would cost the district over $100,000. So for each free or reduced lunch the district provides, as with all other districts across the country, the district is reimbursed by the federal government.
But there is a limit to the amount of compensation the national government is willing to provide—individual school districts must finance any extra costs. Currently, according to Lane, schools are reimbursed $3.20 for every free meal and $2.83 for every reduced meal they provide. At Redwood, where lunches now cost six dollars each, general purpose funding is used to cover the difference in order to maintain the program and support students who rely on it.
One such student, senior Zach Martinez, agreed to share his experience with the program. He has been a recipient of free lunch for all four of his years at Redwood and said he appreciates the NSLP services offered to students who need them.
“It’s really helpful, since my family can’t really afford too much,” Martinez said. “Better options would be nice, but either way it’s helpful. It’s still food.”
Everyday, using his student identification number, Martinez can receive either a free breakfast and lunch or a free snack and lunch, and he switches between the two combinations depending on the day. But when he inputs his student ID into the CEA machines, nothing differentiates him from other paying students. According to Dibble, this is meant to protect the anonymity of free lunch recipients.
“The kids that are free and reduced, when they punch in their number it comes up showing that they don’t owe anything. The kids that have money in their accounts, when they punch in their number the money is deducted from their account,” Dibble said. “We really want to make sure that we don't identify those kids who are free and reduced because we don't want them to feel like they’re in a different class.”
Martinez, however, isn’t bothered by his financial situation and, during his time at Redwood, has not felt uncomfortable being among the eight percent of kids receiving free or reduced lunch.
“Marin is kind of wealthy so I guess it’s normal to be able to afford food and everything,” Martinez said. “But I don’t really view it as something to be embarrassed about because there’s not really anything I can do.”
While Martinez said he embraces the program, he knows the system inherently limits the amount of food students can consume and finds he can often eat more than the portion size provided.
“The USDA sets rules in place as to what a portion size is,” Lane said. “So if a child really needs twice as much food as the USDA has determined in their infinite wisdom, we don’t get the claim for that second meal.”
The USDA rules bother Lane, but she said she believes most school districts try to provide enough food to satisfy their students in need, despite regulations. And even though the system sometimes limits the amount of food Martinez can eat, he knows NSLP has only improved his situation.
“[If the program wasn’t offered,] I would probably just be eating friends’ food. There are lots of kids who bring food, but they don’t even eat all of it,” Martinez said.
For Martinez and other students receiving free or reduced lunch, the NSLP is vital to their health. And since the turn of presidency in the United States, the new Republican administration has sought to cut back on many social programs which provide a “safety net” for Americans in need. The NSLP is a core part of this “safety net” and, according to a study by Pew Research, only 24 percent of Republicans favor the government doing more to help those in need. Despite these threats, Lane said she is confident that the program will remain.
“I do not believe the national school lunch program will be slashed,” Lane said. “The program was established under the National School Lunch Act by President Harry Truman back in 1946. So I see this program as being sort of a sacrosanct of Social Security and Medicare. They're never going to get rid of them.”