More students may qualify for free and reduced lunches after a new rule from the Hawaii Department of Education. ADVERTISING More students may qualify for free and reduced lunches after a new rule from the Hawaii Department of Education. The
More students may qualify for free and reduced lunches after a new rule from the Hawaii Department of Education.
The full price per meal is $1.10 for elementary school breakfast and $2.50 for elementary school students.
Breakfast is $1.20 for secondary school students and $2.75 for lunch.
The reduced price meals are 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch for both levels.
The National School Lunch Program provides meals for children in a family under a set income level. Children in a family of five would qualify for reduced-price meals at $60,440 total household income and free meals at $42,471.
The number of people who qualify, and apply, varies across the island. The high is 93.42 percent of students at Mountain View Elementary and the low is 34.41 percent of students at Ernest Bowen de Silva Elementary School in Hilo. Charters schools statewide see 51.037 percent of their students receiving the assistance.
Families can apply online at ezmealapp.com. Parents with students in charter schools need to contact the school.
The lunch program is a federal program that reimburses schools for what they spend, so long as it meets their standards. It also provides certain amounts of agricultural products for free to the schools.
