By Rhys Baker

USD 379 Clay County Schools is encouraging all parents, guardians, and caregivers of students to apply for Free and Reduced Lunches. Through a federal program called Title 1, the district receives intervention funding or funds to give students extra help in reading and math. The Federal government uses a specific count date as a snapshot of how many students are enrolled in each school across the country and how many have applied for free and reduced lunches. The count date is nearing, as this year’s date is September 20th.

USD 379 Community Connections Coordinator Matt Weller says some families don’t apply because of the stigma surrounding poverty and supplements. “I’ve overheard parents say even if I qualify, I’m not going to use it. However, the district earns funding from those who qualify, and it’s not taking money away from anybody else. It’s federal government money so we would encourage everybody to apply think that might qualify even if they don’t plan to use it because it does help our district which means that it’s money to help kids.”

The Title 1 program was developed in the 1960’s to help underachieving, high-poverty schools. A mathematical formula was created to rank each school within each county based on number of students. Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is measured and reported back to federal funders as students have to make gains in math and reading. Weller says, “Applying is easy. Go online to usd379.org and you go to the enrollment page. There’s a big red apple in the bottom left-hand corner, and you just select that and go through the process.” You do not have to apply online, as forms are available at the district office as well.

Lincoln Elementary and Garfield Elementary are Title 1 schools within the USD 379 district.