Change Indicator

Students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch in Louisiana

Students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch

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Note: Non-consecutive years appear adjacent in the trend line
because one or more years have been deselected.

Why This Indicator Matters

The percentage of students eligible for the federally subsidized free or reduced-price lunch program is often used as a measure of how many children from low-income families are enrolled in public schools. The maximum family income for eligibility in the Free or Reduced Lunch programs is set at 185% of the Federal Poverty Line, which was equivalent to $42,606 for a family of three in the 2022-2023 school year. 
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Definition and Source

PROVIDER

Definition

Number - registered students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch.
Percent - registered students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch per 100 registered students.

Data Source

Agenda for Children's analysis of data provided by the Louisiana Department of Education.

Notes

Data for Recovery School District schools, charter schools and city district schools are reflected in the parish-level data of the parish in which the school is located. Data for the following schools and school systems are not included in parish-level data, but are reflected in the statewide totals: Special School District, Louisiana School For Math, Science & the Arts, Louisiana School for the Deaf, Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, Louisiana Special Education Center, Community School for Apprenticeship Learning, Inc., virtual schools, and LA Office of Juvenile Justice. 

Data reflect October total enrollment counts, with the exception of data for SY 2005, which reflect February 2006 data.

Starting with the 2014 school year, Louisiana began to track a new measure, "economically disadvantaged students" instead of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Because it is derived from different data sources, "free and reduced-price lunch" data should not be compared to data on "economically disadvantaged students."

Last Updated

June 2018