More money for your school! We mean it

It's time to say it again:MORE MEAL APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED MEAN MORE MONEY FOR YOUR SCHOOL!

Here’s why.

The National School Lunch Program reimburses SFUSD for lunch for every low-income student who files a meal application. If a student does not file an application and does not have money, SFUSD provides the lunch. This cost comes directly out of our children’s and classroom needs. Of course, it’s essential that every low-income child get a nutritious lunch. A well-nourished child is a child who is ready to learn and focus in class.

• The only way to collect meal applications from every low-income student is to collect applications from all students, since school administrators cannot guess at which children might qualify and single them out to collect forms.
• Families who know they don’t qualify should write NOT INTERESTED across their meal application and return it to their school or to the SFUSD Student Nutrition Services Department.

And there are other crucial reasons to collect all meal applications!

The meal applications are the ONLY way that SFUSD identifies the number of low-income students. If some low-income students do not file a meal application, the school’s and the school district’s percentage of low-income students is undercounted. This costs our schools and our children money and resources! Here’s why.

• Schools receive Title I federal funds based on the percentage of low-income students. If the percentage is underreported, the schools get less money than they should.
• Many grants are based on the school’s and the school district’s percentage of low-income students. Underreporting the percentage of low-income students means schools get less grant funding than they should. Schools and individual teachers report that they have lost grants because the school’s reported percentage of low-income students was slightly too low. This was probably because of unreturned meal applications! Schools and classrooms would undoubtedly win more grants that directly benefit our children if all meal applications were returned.
• Part of California’s Academic Performance Index school ranking system involves Similar Schools scores, which rank schools compared to other schools with similar demographics. If a school’s percentage of low-income students is underreported, it receives a lower Similar Schools score than it deserves, harming the school’s reputation unfairly.

As of Friday, Oct. 7, last year's meal application qualifications expire. Students who don't have a new meal application on file no longer get reimbursements from the feds. Meal applications can be accepted any time throughout the year &mdash but the sooner the better.

Please spread the word.

&mdash Caroline