Proposed rule would reduce families eligible for SNAP

By KATE BARCELLOS
[email protected]
A proposed rule change would cut roughly $90 million from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, directly impacting the eligibility of Vermont’s schools that access free and reduced lunch and cutting an estimated 23 schools — almost half — entirely from the program.

That includes Rutland’s Northeast Primary School, Northwest Primary School, Rutland Middle School, Rutland Intermediate School and the Allen Street Campus, all of which are certified by the Community Eligibility Provision, according to Laurie Colgan, CEP manager at Rutland City Public Schools.

Secretary of Education Dan French called on the USDA and the United States government not to adopt the rule and save hundreds of thousands of people from nutritional scarcity.

“If enacted, this rule change will harm many of our most vulnerable students and families, and greatly increase costs for many of our school districts and Vermont taxpayers as a whole,” French said in a statement.

Forty-five percent of children in a household with a changed SNAP status would be eligible for free and reduced meals with an application, while a full 55% of children with current SNAP status would no longer be eligible for free and reduced meals, notes on the rule say.

“93 percent of these households, or about 51 percent of all affected households, would be eligible for reduced price meals due to their household income of 185 percent or less than the federal poverty level,” the notes read.

If 40% of a school district’s students are eligible for SNAP benefits, the school is eligible for free and reduced lunches at least partially reimbursed by federal funds. But if at least 62% of its are students eligible for SNAP benefits, the students all receive free meals and are not charged at all.

Falling between 40% and 62% means a scaled portion of the funds for the program come from local contribution.

Colgan said the new four-year CEP period just began for Rutland City Public Schools, but in four years, if the new rule is implemented, the district may not be eligible for CEP, which automatically renders every student eligible for free and reduced meals without requiring an application.

Six years ago, the district charged for meals, but with the CEP, meal costs have been cut from administration and the process has been made more efficient and easier to implement.

In Vermont, all families at or below 185% of poverty level receive free meals, but the new federal guidelines stand to affect more than a few families currently eligible for free and reduced meals.

“Nationally, they’re looking at around 600,000 households,” Colgan said. “This will definitely impact the eligibility of those schools.”

Colgan said in 2014-2015, when the original CEP first began, Rutland had 1,425 students enrolled in the participating schools, and 53.75% of the students were directly certified.

This year, 1,233 students now have a direct certification of 51.8%, meaning roughly half of the students certified participated in the free and reduced lunches program.

Ted Fisher, director of legislative affairs and communications for the Agency of Education, said the state is expecting to lose 23 schools from the program, affecting 52% of educational institutions across the state.

Only five out of Vermont’s 52 schools are predicted to remain completely untouched by the new rule, Fisher said.

Schools ineligible for CEP do have some other options: Colgan said if they access “provision two,” they will still be able to access meals but at a greater cost to the district with the re-implementation of the free and reduced meals application.

With the proposed new rules, there would likely be fewer children in SNAP eligible households, and probably fewer children eligible for free and reduced meals, which means less federal reimbursement and higher local contribution, quite possibly in the form of raised taxes, Colgan said.

John Pandolfo, Superintendent of the Barre Supervisory Union, said 56% of Barre City Elementary School students were eligible for free and reduced lunch last year.

“Because that’s above the threshhold, all students at Barre City Elementary school get free lunch and breakfast,” Pandolfo said.

By contrast, Spaulding High School — and Rutland High School — register numbers below the eligibility bracket. Spaulding rests at 29% of students remaining eligible, but Barre Town Middle and Elementary School has 29% of their student population utilizing free and reduced lunch, Pandolfo said.

“It is critically important,” Pandolfo said. “We have students who, it is fair to say, the most reliable and best meals they get are through the schools. Families rely on the free meals we provide through the summertime.”

Pandolfo said the guaranteed meals keep students in class and not missing lessons while sick at home and in the nurse’s office, directly contributing to student success.

Though the district and community would do whatever it could to continue providing free and reduced lunches, without the CEP, Pandolfo said they do not currently have an immediate plan in place.