More and more students are receiving free or discounted lunches at schools across the four-county region.
That’s according to The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, which recently highlighted the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced school lunch from 2006 to 2016, as part of Hunger Action Month.
One such school to be above the state average rate is the Port Allegany School District, news that doesn’t come as a surprise to Superintendent Gary Buchsen.
“Port Allegany’s free and reduced lunch population has grown over the past several years,” he said. “This year over half of our students in the district receive either free or reduced-price lunches. Given the higher than average unemployment rate for McKean and Potter counties, this should not come as a surprise that many of our families are eligible.”
The only districts to be below the state average were Ridgway and St. Marys in Elk County; Smethport in McKean County; and Coudersport in Potter County. In 2016, Cameron County saw 60 percent of its students receive a free or reduced-price lunch; Potter County, 55.2 percent; McKean County, 54.8 percent; and Elk County, 42.8 percent.
Otto-Eldred School District Superintendent Matthew Splain pointed to two factors at play in the rise in numbers, one of which is the downturn of the economy starting in 2008-09.
“One of the goals of the Healthy Hunger Free Schools Act was to increase the number of children eligible for free/reduced lunch,” he said. “Historically, Otto-Eldred’s free/reduced percent has been above the state average. We are a small, rural district, with very little property tax base.”
Free and reduced-price lunches come with benefits beyond feeding the students’ stomachs and lessening the strain on guardians’ pocketbooks. Splain said the program helps secure grant funding and maintain the after-school dinner program.
“In our current economy, many families struggle juggling multiple jobs on multiple schedules which don’t coincide with regular meal patterns,” Spain said. “Because our F/R numbers are higher, we are able to support our families by providing three meals per day, hopefully reducing this concern for their children.”
The program is promoted to all families, Splain said. Eligible families must reapply by the end of September.
“The lunch program is one of several national programs that helps fight hunger and obesity,” The Center for Rural Pennsylvania spokeswoman Christine Caldara Piatos said. Other area school superintendents did not immediately return an email Tuesday seeking comment for this story.
