STERLING – Every day, students from across the Sauk Valley slide into their seats at school to get ready to learn – many of them on an empty stomach.

Food insecurity is the condition of not having access to enough food, or food of adequate quality, to meet one’s basic needs. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 18 million Illinois households, or 13.5% – many with children – experienced food insecurity in 2023.

Initiatives such as the USDA’s National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program and others help relieve some of the burden those families face.

Here’s a look at how those programs play out locally:

Sterling

Sterling Public Schools District 5 Director of Finance Matt Birdsley said that 100% of the district’s students receive free lunch and breakfast through the Illinois State Board of Education’s Community Eligibility Provision program.

Birdsley said this is District 5’s sixth year in the program, which enables eligible Illinois schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students, regardless of income, by removing the need for household meal assistance applications in high-poverty districts participating in the NSLP and the SBP.

To qualify for CEP, at least 40% of a school’s students must be directly certified for free meals through programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or if they meet other income-related criteria. Once approved, students will receive free breakfast and lunch without needing applications or income verification.

Participating schools still need to pay their contracted food vendors upfront before later submitting claims to the USDA or state agencies for reimbursement based on the number of meals served and the identified student percentage under the CEP.

How much schools are reimbursed depends on the identified student percentage, which is calculated based on the percentage of students directly certified for free meals. Schools receive a set rate per meal served based on that percentage. However, this means the CEP is not the right choice for every school.

Schools with a low direct certification rate may receive less federal reimbursement versus the traditional meal application process, and schools with a low ISP will receive less money per meal served, potentially creating a financial burden to the district.

“The main factor is the free/reduced population,” Birdsley said. “In Sterling, our free/reduced numbers allowed us to enroll in the program without providing a financial burden on the district.”

Birdsley said Sterling schools have 1,495 students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, of whom 1,421 are directly certified.

Dixon

Dixon Public Schools District 170 Superintendent Margo Empen said the district is currently ineligible for the CEP, but the district can apply for it annually. She said that each year, the district analyzes the feasibility of the CEP and will be running those numbers again this spring.

Empen said 53% of Dixon’s K-12 students currently receive free or reduced-price meals through the NSLP and SBP. She said those numbers have remained relatively steady over the past few years.

To qualify for the NSLP and SBP, families must fill out an application and provide information including household income and family size.

A student qualifies for free meals if their household income is at or below 130% of the federal poverty level, and households with incomes that fall between 130% and 185% of the FPL qualify for reduced-price meals.

Students whose households receive certain forms of assistance, such as SNAP benefits, automatically qualify for free meals.

Rock Falls

Rock Falls Elementary School District 13 Superintendent Dan Arickx said all the students at Dillon Elementary, Merrill Elementary and Rock Falls Middle School qualify for free breakfast and lunch through the CEP. He said 77% of those students qualify for free or reduced-price meals through the NLSP and SBP.

Ron McCord, superintendent of Rock Falls Township High School District 301, said 53% of his students receive free or reduced-price meals through the NLSP and SBP, a number that has remained relatively stable over the past several years.