Lean times bring surge in free school lunches

More than a third of all children in South Hampton Roads public schools, about 60,000, now qualify for free lunches, a poverty index that's seen nearly 9,000 more students become eligible as the economy hit incomes hard in the past five years.

From the most to the least affluent, each of the region's five cities saw an increase in free-lunch eligibility, according to a Virginian-Pilot analysis of state data.

Norfolk and Portsmouth continue to have the highest percentages of eligible students compared with total enrollment, but other cities saw marked surges as well. For example, eligibility rose fastest in Chesapeake, where 33.5 percent more children qualified in 2010-11 than in 2006-07.

Eligibility is based on household income. To qualify, a family of three could earn no more than $23,803 annually last year. In 2006-07, the figure was $21,580.

The increase in that figure may have qualified more families, but school administrators, some surprised to learn about The Pilot's findings, say the main reason for the surge lies elsewhere.

"Certainly, the obvious one is the economic times," said Sheila Magula, deputy superintendent of Virginia Beach schools, where 23.5 percent of students qualified for free lunches last year, compared with 20.6 percent in 2006-07.

The lunch statistics might not even account for every child whose family is eligible, she said, because some families won't come forward.

"One, they don't believe in asking for assistance; they have a great deal of pride," she said. "The other reason is, they may not feel comfortable in approaching the system and don't know how to go about doing that, even though the schools make the information available."

School leaders say it's important that struggling families come forward. For schools, the surge in free-lunch statistics can be a red flag - student poverty rates parallel lower test scores, which can drag down a school's ability to earn accreditation.

"The evidence that poverty has a huge impact on student achievement is just very, very clear," said Linda Irwin-Devitis, dean of the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University.

In her research, she's compared third-grade reading scores in Norfolk schools against census maps of the city showing income levels for school neighborhoods.

"The overlap, the correlation, is incredibly high between high poverty and schools that are not having more than 75 percent of their students pass," she said. The state generally requires schools to have a 75 percent pass rate on Standards of Learning tests to get accredited.

It's not hard to understand why going without food hurts children's ability to learn, said Gay Thomas, social services coordinator for Virginia Beach schools.

"If you're a little kid, you don't have food and are hungry, you're going to have a hard time paying attention," she said. "You may be irritable, or it may start to look like behavioral problems."

Still, the free and reduced-price school meals are simply a supplement, not a complete replacement, for what a child needs.

"Think about a kid who hasn't had anything to eat since Friday lunch - she comes in Monday and gets breakfast, but she still has that growling belly," Thomas said.

School divisions aren't required to be part of the federal lunch program, but all of Virginia's 132 public systems participate, said Catherine Digilio-Grimes, the state's school nutrition director.

To be included, divisions must send an application at the start of the school year to every family with a child in the school system.

Virginia's schoolchildren are automatically enrolled for free or reduced-price lunches if their family receives food stamps or public assistance known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Both programs have income-eligibility requirements.

Elliott Tyson Sr., 34, said he met the free-lunch income guidelines even before the hauling company he worked for as a driver and equipment operator tanked two years ago with the construction industry's nosedive.

"Free school lunches is a blessing," said Tyson, whose three children attend Suffolk public schools. Tyson, who is unemployed and recovering from leg surgery, said the family depends on his wife's biweekly take-home pay of $450 as a Walmart worker, state assistance and health care via Medicaid.

"It's kind of hard coming up with gas money, electricity money, homeowner's insurance," he said. The free lunches, as well as school breakfasts, save him about $150 a month at the rate of $12.50 a week per child.

Some school leaders were surprised to learn of the increase in students eligible to receive free lunch - the statistics can easily be overlooked, given the programs' low impact on budgets. School food programs typically don't require local taxpayer money.

Schools get partial reimbursement from the federal government for the free and reduced-price meals.

"I was very surprised to see such a high percentage of Norfolk children qualify for the free lunch program," said Brad Robinson, who joined Norfolk's School Board in July.

Robinson said that if parents are struggling to provide food, shelter and utilities, "it can only mean that school may not be the highest priority. Unfortunately, we as a school system have a limited amount of direct influence over rising poverty levels - but education is the ultimate answer."

Helen Phillips, Norfolk's school nutrition supervisor, blamed the recession for the increase: 56.3 percent of the city's public school students qualified for free lunches last year, compared with 46.4 percent five years earlier.

"We're feeding more children now than before the economy took a downturn," she said. "They're moving out of the full-price or reduced categories, and into the reduced or free category."

The data support Phillips' view: The number of students qualifying for reduced lunch increased over the past five years, too, though at a slower rate. Regionwide, 11,766 students had family incomes low enough to qualify for reduced-price lunches last year.

As the free and reduced-lunch rosters have swelled across the region, so has the number of people seeking help from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, said Renee Figurelle, the food bank's chief operating officer.

"The number of people we're serving here in the last three years has increased, I think, 66 percent," she said. "The economy has just rocked these individuals."

In 2008, the food bank began providing some schools food to give to students for weekend meals. "We've actually had principals come to us saying, 'We have to do something on the weekend - we have kids running off the bus to get breakfast Monday mornings because they haven't had a good meal all weekend,' " Figurelle said.

The weekend food bags now supply more than 2,600 children at 43 schools in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and elsewhere. "We have schools on our waiting list, and schools that would like more bags," Figurelle said.

Even with food assistance, lower-income students' achievement may suffer as parents are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, according to Virginia Beach School Board Chairman Dan Edwards.

"I think it's about the ability of the parents to devote time to their children when a household is financially stressed," he said. Such parents aren't there to help with homework or motivate children by showing open interest in their schooling.

In Chesapeake, School Board Chairman Harry Murphy called the bigger free-lunch roster a symbol and result of the bad economy and unemployment. Last year, 27.3 percent of students qualified for free lunch, compared with 19.3 percent five years earlier.

Murphy and officials in other divisions said some parents may see a stigma in enrolling students in the meal program. But children receiving free lunch blend in at school cafeterias because they, like all students, use meal cards or PIN codes in lunch lines.

Murphy said he recommends that eligible families take advantage of the program.

"You wouldn't think saving a dollar a day or so makes that much difference, but over 180 days, that's $180 a family could use" for a utility bill or other essential, he said. "I advise any parent who needs it to use it."

Pilot writer Meghan Hoyer contributed to this report.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com