Manteca Unified has substantially reduced the fiscal bleeding triggered by a federal mandate that banned the district from its former practice of providing peanut butter and crackers as well as a trip to the garden bar for students that did not have money for lunch.

All school districts including Manteca Unified had to allow students without money to charge lunches. That led to the district piling up charges that weren’t being paid. Prior to that the district was never owed money

Fifteen months ago the federal mandate led to the district being owed $370,000. That amount was reduced to $121,000 by last February.  As of last week, the district was still owed $52,000.

An ongoing effort by Nutritional Services is responsible for collecting the debt that would have to be covered by the general funds and take money away from classroom endeavors and education support spending.

Collecting money from those with the least ability to pay has been reduced to a large degree by the same effort that has reduced such debt piling up as the current school year unfolds.  The effort was getting households that qualified for free and reduced meals to fill out eligibility forms that are verified in part by participation in safety net programs such as welfare, SNAP (food stamps), and Medi-Cal.

Those who did not sign up previously who would have qualified in the past were able to shed their debt burden as the federal government is reimbursing the district for meal charges made by those households in previous years.

The effort to have eligibility forms completed by the deadline as well as making sure those households that qualified in previous years to re-apply annually as required by law resulted in a significant bump in the percentage of the district’s nearly 24,000 students that are receiving free or reduced meals.

The percentage had been declining in recent years and had dropped to 59.48 percent as of May 2017. The number of students on free and reduced lunches spiked to 64.28 percent by May of 2018.

Five district schools due to their high concentration of free and reduced meals — French Camp Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Calla High, New Vision High and Manteca Day School — met criteria to provide breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost.

Provision 2 breakfasts — a subsidized federal program — is available at all remaining elementary sites allowing students to eat at no cost.

How much households rely on Nutrition Services is underscored by the number of meals prepared each day especially at breakfast.

For the first three days of school this year the average meal participation for breakfast was 10,603 meals a day and 7,451 meals for lunch. It was too long ago that when breakfast was rolled out relatively few had accessed it as compared to lunch. The high breakfast numbers reflect students whose households don’t qualify for free or reduced meals opting to have breakfast at school and not at home.

Support for after school programs that are typically children from low-income households the first three days of this school year averaged 158 snack “meals” a day and 704 supper meals a day that are served during after school programs. That means 704 students likely rely on the school district for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Overall there are about 18,900 school meals a day being served.

District personnel repeatedly have emphasized if students are hungry they won’t be 100 percent focused on learning.

High school lunches jumped 25 cents this year to $3 while elementary lunches are up 25 cents to $2.50. Other prices are $1.75 for elementary breakfast (students at campuses that are Breakfast-in-Classroom sites are not charged for breakfast), $2 for high school breakfast, $3 for adult breakfast, $4.50 for an adult lunch, $3.50 for a sibling lunch, and 50 cents for milk.

Under the district policy addressing student lunch charges:

Charges are not allowed at the high school.

Parents/guardians have the ability to opt out making their child ineligible for charging meals.

Payments are accepted through cash in line; payment on student accounts through cash, checks or online (PayPams); or credit card.

Payment arrangements may be made through Nutritional Education.

Principal assistance with non-responsive households.

Failure to pay could result in exclusion from certain school activities, reporting to the Manteca Unified School District health Services, collection procedures, and referral to appropriate social service agencies.

Parents are being notified via: 

letters mailed weekly on pink paper stuffed in an envelope marked urgent,

phone calls,

and direct contact

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com