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1.6.5 Total and Share of K-12 Students Eligible for USDA Free & Reduced Price Lunch Program
Why is this important?
The National School Lunch Program, funded by the USDA, offers subsidized food in public and private, non-profit, elementary, and secondary schools. To receive free meals, a pupil's family income must be no greater than 130% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, sometimes referred to as the Federal Poverty Level. To receive a reduced-price lunch, the student's family income must be no more than 185% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. The guidelines differ depending on family size and are adjusted each fiscal year for cost of living increases using the Consumer Price Index. For the most recently reported fiscal year, more than 30.5 million school children nationwide received some form of assistance at lunch. The share represented here is another indication of income distribution within Walla Walla County. Specifically, it serves as a measure of the share of those families in the county with low or very low incomes.
The annual count of those eligible to enroll in the free or reduced-price lunch program takes place in October of each school year.
This indicator measures the number and share of K-12 students in Walla Walla County's public-school districts who were eligible to enroll in the USDA Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Program. Washington State is offered as a benchmark. Additional information, including a breakdown by school district and those who are eligible for free lunches, and those eligible for reduced price lunches, can be found in the “Download Data” section.
Where are we?
During the 2023-2024 school year, the total number of K-12 public school students in Walla Walla County eligible to enroll in the USDA Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program was 5,918, increasing from 3,889, since the 1999-2000 school year. Of these:
- 48 were eligible for reduced-price lunches, decreasing from 803, since the 1999-2000 school year.
- 5870 were eligible for free lunches, increasing from 3,086, since the 1999-2000 school year.
By comparison during the 2023-2024 school year, the share of K-12 public school students eligible to enroll in the USDA Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program in:
- Walla Walla County was 71.2%, increasing from 43.4% since the 1999-2000 school year.
- Washington State was 52.4%, increasing from 31.4% since the 1999-2000 school year.
Data Sources
State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Child Nutrition – Reports
- Under “Free and Reduced-Price Meals Eligibility” select the appropriate year under either “County Order” or “County/District Order”.
Note: Due to OSPI’s Accountability Rules, Institutional, Tribal, Reengagement and Alternative Schools with greater than 50% of their enrollment from outside of their district are not included in school district level data. As a result, some schools districts have high schools that aren’t being computed in the district level estimates (which can be found in the “Download Data” section), but are being counted in the county level estimates.
