6 Dubuque schools participate in federal meal program

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - Six Dubuque schools have enrolled in a new, federal school meal program that helps districts with high poverty rates.

KCRG-TV (https://bit.ly/1Tqe7w5 ) reports that 110 of the 225 Iowa schools eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision have enrolled in the program allowing districts to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. Other programs only provide free meals for select students whose families qualify after filling out paperwork to show income.

To determine if schools are eligible, the new program uses other data that’s already been reported, such as food assistance rates and the number of homeless students.

“It allows less students to fall through the cracks, by not having submitted the right paperwork. It also keeps it - it makes it simpler,” said Ann Feilmann, chief of the Iowa Department of Education’s Nutrition and Health Services Bureau.

At least 40 percent of its students must have a poverty background for a school to be deemed eligible. But unless a school reaches a percentage of about 60 percent, they don’t get the full federal reimbursement for the meal. Districts have to pay the difference.

State education leaders say that’s why some eligible schools don’t participate.

“I don’t really expect those that are at the low end of qualifying, like the 40 to 50 percent ISP, I think it would really be a hard financial stretch for them to be able to pay for the meals and labor,” Feilmann said.

The program became available in all states during the previous school year.

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Information from: KCRG-TV, https://www.kcrg.com