It’s been said there’s no such thing as a free lunch. That’s certainly going to be true for students eating in the cafeterias at the Corcoran Unified School District in the 2008-09 school year.
The district is abandoning its Provision II program, which required heavy paperwork to certify that a large proportion of students qualify for free and reduced meal fees. Once the threshold was reached, all students in the district were allowed to eat breakfast and lunch free.
However, participation in the program has been down, especially at the high school level, said Marie Cates at Tuesday’s school board meeting. Food costs have also risen sharply, due to gas price increases. During the current school year, cafeteria spending encroached on the general fund by $150,000. Next year, despite the fact that students will be paying for their meals, the cafeteria fund is still expected to need an additional $75,000 in general fund revenues to operate.
The problems have been exacerbated this year by a fire in the Bret Harte cafeteria, which kept the cafeteria closed, with food deliveries coming in from other sites. Food at Bret Harte could not be cooked on site, requiring cafeteria personnel to provide meals that could be easily served, regardless of price.
Beginning with the new school year, students who do not meet income guidelines for free and reduced meals will be paying $1 for breakfast and $2.50 for lunch. Those on the reduced-price list will receive the same meals for 50-cents (breakfast) and 75-cents (lunch). Those who meet the free meal criteria will still receive the meals free of charge.
And, since there is no more "breakfast in the classroom" service for breakfast, Bret Harte students will need to be at school between 7:30-8 a.m. to eat breakfast in the cafeteria.
Applications for the free and reduced meal program have been distributed to all student households, with a letter informing families of the availability of the program. The qualify for the program, each family must complete an application form and return it to the school district for processing.
Household size and income determine eligibility for the free and reduced meals. Children whose families receive food stamps, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS), kinship guardian assistance payment or food distribution program on Indian reservations benefits are automatically eligible for free meals, regardless of the household income.
Eligibility for a foster child is based on a separate application and solely on the amount of the child’s "personal use" income, regardless of the family’s overall income.
Parents or guardians who are dissatisfied with an eligibility ruling made by the school district can talk to personnel making the decision, on an informal basis. Parents may also request a formal hearing of the decision. Parents need to contact their school site to get in contact with the official who determines the eligibility.
If a household member becomes unemployed or if the household size increases, the family should contact the school district, since such changes could make students eligible for free or reduced cost meals.
Each school site and the district office has a copy of the income policy that determines if families qualify for the free and reduced meal program. Anyone seeking more information regarding the meal program can check in with their school office.

Thieves seem to be targeting Corcoran High School. They also seem to continue to be getting caught.
In the latest burglary at the high school, police arrived to find two classrooms had been broken into and an estimated $35,000 in electronics, including laptop computers and a 40-inch plasma television, had been stolen.
Arrested for the theft were 19-year-old Richard Irwin and a 17-yer-old juvenile.
In addition to the investigation leading to the arrest of the two suspects, police recovered all of the stolen property, which included the television, 14 computers, computer components and other miscellaneous items.
Irwin was booked at the Kings County Jail in Hanford on charges of burglary, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and vandalism. He was being held on $60,000 bail.
The juvenile was booked at the Kings County Juvenile Center in Hanford on charges of burglary, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and vandalism.
This burglary followed one a week earlier that led to the arrest of two male juveniles. One of the juveniles in that theft was taken to Corcoran District Hospital after hurting himself while allegedly committing the crime. The property was also recovered in that burglary.