The move to universal free lunch in California’s public schools — including Manteca Unified — has resulted in more attentive students.

While it is mostly anecdotal evidence based on observations by classroom teachers that students are less fidgety, there have been a number of studies over the year that had linked chronically hungry students with poorer grades, lower test scores and even worse graduation and post-secondary education outcomes.

How it played out in Manteca Unified underscores another reality.

Families that didn’t qualify for free or reduced meals were still struggling to feed their children.

The reality is the median rent in Manteca of $2,700 a month significantly exceeds the United States Department of Agriculture figures used to calculate the household qualification parameters for free and reduced meals.

That was reflected in charged meals that went unpaid before the pandemic triggered temporarily universal free school lunch nationwide and California’s follow-up in the 2022-2023 school year to become the first state to mandate free universal school lunches going forward.

At the end of 2016-2017 school year, MUSD had $320,000 in uncollected lunch charges on its books.

The amount owed the district was down to $202,000 a year later.

Eventually by 2019, that end-of-the-year owed number got down to $120,000.

District officials at the time pointed out families were paying down the amount owed but due to the ebb and flow of household finances they’d end up needing to charge lunches so their children would have a meal at school.

Statewide, 63 percent of California’s 6.2 million public school students before the pandemic qualified for the free and reduced meal program.

In Manteca, that figure was closer to 57 percent.

Almost all of the charges were for students from households that did not either qualify or did not apply for the free or reduced lunch portogram.

Applying for free & reduced

lunch program still helps

struggling families in other ways

Even though universal free school lunch is now the norm for California schools it could ironically end up creating a hardship for families struggling financially.

That’s because free meal service for all students in place for the school year doesn’t make filing a free and reduced meal application moot for qualifying households.

The meal application found on the Manteca Unified School District website on the musdnutrition.net page assures those students who qualify will be eligible to have the tab picked up for a lot more education-related expenses.

“(The) forms are critical for families” noted MUSD Community Outreach Director Victoria Brunn.

Qualified students — depending on their household income — will be able to receive free or reduced prices on a wide array of educational related expenses. The list includes:

*Home to school transportation as well as that for athletic teams if the district opts to charge for it.

*Sports participation fees.

*Advanced Placement Exam fees.
*Qualification for financial aid for post-secondary education.

*Replacement of lost textbooks.

As for the universal free lunch program, Brunn said “no child should experience food insecurity.”

California was the first state to go to universal free school lunches.

Seven states have since followed suit.

They are Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com