The Importance of Completing the Educational Benefits Application

During the 2023-2024 school year, students in grades K-12 got to enjoy one free breakfast and one free lunch at school as part of the Free School Meals for Kids Program. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed the Free School Meals bill into law on March 17, 2023, which took effect July 1, 2023 .

With the Free School Meals bill, a concern for school districts had been whether or not funding would be affected as a result of less parents completing the application for educational benefits. Let’s hear what a few school districts have to say.

Kingsland Public School District’s superintendent, Scott Klavetter, reported that funding for Kingsland Schools has not been impacted. Kingsland Schools recognized the potential for funding issues when school meals became free for all K-12 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The school district had been proactive in educating families. Families learned about the application for educational benefits, as well as additional resources available to those who qualify that went beyond free/reduced priced school meals. Families were made aware of how the number of students qualifying for free/reduced school meals impacts the amount of state and federal funding Kingsland School District receives for programs such as Title 1. The school district encourages all families to complete the application for educational benefits the beginning of each new school year whether or not they think they will qualify. Superintendent Klavetter proudly noted that the Kingsland community has been very responsive, which has helped maintain accurate data and consistent funding.

Rushford-Peterson School District’s business manager, Toni Oian, reported that the school district’s Title 1 award for the 2024-2025 school year decreased slightly compared to 2023-2024. Oian did not think the decrease in funding was due to the free/reduced lunch count.

Houston Public School District’s director of finance, Gwen Rostad, reported that the school district has not experienced issues with funding. The state of Minnesota started directly certifying more categories for free/reduced lunches. Before the enactment of the Free School Meals bill, families on certain medical assistance programs were not directly certified and had to complete the income forms themselves in order to determine eligibility for free/reduced meals. Today, with more families being directly certified, Houston School’s number of students who qualify for free/reduced meals has acutally increased. The families whose income level strictly determines eligibilty are completing the forms less and less often with school meals being free. Houston Public Schools encourages families regularly to complete the forms and explains that revenue is determined by the numbers.

Spring Grove Public School District’s accountant, Tanya Elton, reported no funding issues have been found. The district received a reduction in the number of educational benefits applications during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years due to all K-12 students receiving free school meals during the pandemic. For the 2022-2023 school year, Minnesota had been approved by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) to use Medicaid eligibility for direct certification. The school district’s free/reduced meal eligibility increased significantly as a result of the direct certification. Elton shared data on this in regards to the percentage of students who qualified for free/reduced meals for these specific school years: 2019-2020, 29.1%; 2020-2021, 19.6%; 2021-2022, 21.7%; 2022-2023, 36.1%; and 2023-2024, 34.3%. The shift to include Medicaid eligibility has been a positive for funding for Spring Grove Schools. The district received less educational benefits applications the previous school year due to most families that would have qualified for free/reduced school meals already qualified as a result of direct certification. Spring Grove Schools encourages parents to complete the application. Elton acknowledged that funding is a real concern for a lot of school districts, with the shift to universal free meals and with less free/reduced meal applications which impacts other funding, including Title 1.

Caledonia Public School District’s business manager/finance director, Barb Meyer, reported that very few people are completing the application for educational benefits due to free breakfast and free lunch being available to all students. The state started directly certifying based on Medicaid eligibility to qualify for free/reduced meals which resulted in an increase in the direct certified numbers. If someone is direct certified. they do not need to fill out an application for reduced benefits since they already qualify.