Twitter
Facebook
For the first time in nearly 25 years, the eligibility for free or reduced-price lunches in Department of Defense Dependent Schools will be calculated for families living on the economy, without including their housing allowance as income.
This should increase the number of children eligible to receive reduced-price or free lunches at school. The new policy went into effect immediately upon the signing of an agreement between the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in late October.
Some children living off base may find that they now qualify for reduced price lunches, those already eligible may now qualify for free lunches.
Parents in the KMC should contact the office of their child’s school for applications. Families interested in seeing if their eligibility has changed with the new policy should contact the installation representative who normally collects information on school lunches. This policy applies only to those DOD civilian and military dependent children living in civilian housing overseas. There is no change in the policy for the children of families living in military housing, and no change for students at DOD schools in the United States.
This change in eligibility criteria marks the first major revision in the original 1980 agreement between DOD and USDA allowing DODDS schools to participate in the National School Lunch Program.
(Courtesy of DODDS)
