Howard-Winneshiek School District administrators are reminding families whose income level changes throughout the year that they may be eligible for the free and reduced school lunch program.
    Howard-Winneshiek Superintendent Brian Ney encourages qualifying families to take advantage of the federal program, which provides free or reduced price school meals for children unable to pay the full price of meals served under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program and the Afterschool Care Snack Program.
    Both the school district and families benefit from the program, according to Ney, since the school receives more reimbursement for meals served to students using the program than it does for students that pay full cost for their meals.
    “The additional income helps offset food and labor costs and may very well delay future lunch price increases. It also saves families money,” Ney says on the school’s Web site. “Both the school and the families come out ahead in this situation.”
    If a family’s income changes throughout the year, whether they are affected by an extended layoff or other change in employment status, they may qualify for the program even if they did not in the past. Families can apply at any time during the school year.
    Students receiving reduced or free lunch benefits will use the same plastic lunch cards as students paying full price so that students’ privacy is protected.
    In certain cases, foster children are also eligible for these benefits. If a family wishes to apply for reduced price meals for foster children, instructions for doing so are included on the application form.
    Applications for the free and reduced school lunch program and specific income eligibility guidelines are available in the office of all schools in the district and at the superintendent’s office. For more information, contact Gayle Wilkinson in the Superintendent’s Office at 563-547-2762 or toll-free at 1-866-540-2762.