The Facts

Free and Reduced Lunch for Charlottesville Students

In the 2010-2011 school year, 54% (2,152 of 3,998 students) of Charlottesville City students qualified for a free or reduced lunch; Virginia's average, more than 15% lower than this, at 38% qualifying for a free or reduced lunch. (Virginia Department of Education, published January 31, 2011)

In the current 2010-2011 school year, to be eligible for a free lunch under the National School Lunch Program, a family of four must earn at or below 130% of the poverty line which is $28,655. In order to receive a reduced price lunch, a family of four must earn between 130 and 185% of the poverty line, which is $40,793. (United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Program Overview, August 2009)

Charlottesville Food Insecurity

In the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s Hunger Survey results of the Thomas Jefferson Planning region (Charlottesville and Albemarle) for 2010 they found that:

• 43% of clients had children under the age of 18 and 16% had children under the age of 5.
• Of the clients classified as food insecure, 84% of them had children, of those same clients, 37% were classified as having very low food security.
• Of the clients surveyed, only 14% participated in any type of summer feeding program.