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Eligible recipients of free or reduced-price lunch in North Dakota

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Why This Indicator Matters

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Definition and Source

PROVIDER

Definition

This indicator represents the number of children (Pre-K through 12th grade) eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch in public schools.* 

Children may also be eligible to receive free or reduced-price breakfast and/or milk. To receive a free or reduced-price meal, households must meet income eligibility requirements. Children in food stamp or TANF families are automatically eligible for free school meals. Families who receive commodity assistance through food distribution programs in American Indian tribal areas are also automatically eligible for free meals. In the 2014/15 school year, a new lunch option was made available to North Dakota schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The CEP was enacted as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 and provides universal meal service to students enrolled in schools with at least 40 percent of students who are directly certified for free meals.


The denominator for the percentage is total public school enrollment in respective geographic areas.

Data Source

North Dakota Department of Public Instruction

Notes

*Data for tribal areas includes non-public, tribal schools located on a reservation. Please contact North Dakota KIDS COUNT for more information on tribal area geography. 
UPDATED - May 2023
NA - Data is suppressed if the number of students enrolled (denominator) is less than 10. Additional suppression is applied if the percentage approached zero or 100 using ranges. 
GEOGRAPHY - Data reflect the school location, not the child's place of residence. 
DATE - September of reference school year.
NOTE - Data is not reported for the 2021/22 school year as all meals were provided free to all students. 
The 2020/21 school year allowed waivers for schools to provide free school meals to all students as part of the COVID-19 relief efforts. This may have resulted in fewer parents completing the free or reduced-price lunch eligibility paperwork. Data from 2020/21 should not be directly compared across other school years for this reason, however does provide insight to compare geographies within the same school year.
In the 2014/15 school year, a new lunch option was made available to North Dakota schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The CEP was enacted as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 and provides universal meal service to students enrolled in schools with at least 40 percent of students who are directly certified for free meals.

Last Updated

May 2023