Story Highlights

  • Eight Hardin County schools are losing universal free lunch eligibility under the federal Community Eligibility Provision program.
  • Students who don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch will now have to pay $3.25 per meal starting next year.
  • Officials say the change is due to not enough families submitting income forms to meet federal reimbursement requirements.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Eight schools in Hardin County will no longer offer free lunch to every student at the start of next school year. 

Students who attend any of the eight schools listed below or HCS Early College and Career Center and who don't qualify for free or reduced lunch will have to pay $3.25 for school lunches:

  • Cecilia Valley Elementary School
  • Lincoln Trail Elementary School
  • Rineyville Elementary School
  • Vine Grove Elementary School
  • East Hardin Middle School
  • Central Hardin High School
  • John Hardin High School
  • North Hardin High School
  • HCS Early College and Career Center

Lunches at the schools above have previously been provided through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program.

It's a federal program under the USDA's National School Lunch Program that allows schools to provide free meals to every student if at least 25% of the school's students are identified as low-income through participation in programs like SNAP or TANF.

The USDA reimburses schools based on the number of school lunches served, with different reimbursement rates depending on whether the meal is served to students who qualify for free, reduced-price, or paid lunch.

If at least 62.5% of a school's students are identified as eligible for free meals because of their participation in programs like SNAP or TANF, the USDA reimburses the school at 100% free rate. 

"We did not receive enough data to tell us that those schools continue to qualify for CEP, meeting those thresholds," said John Wright, a spokesperson for Hardin County Schools.

But Wright said next year, John Hardin High and seven other schools in the district, along with the HCS Early College and Career Center, won't qualify for the program.

"It was not a takeaway, we're following guidelines," Wright said.

Wright said not enough parents filled out forms providing information about their household income.

He said with the data they did receive, there were not enough students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.

"If we have more lunches going out the door than we’re being reimbursed for, then that's really hard to sustain," Wright said.

Wright said although federal guidelines only require schools to have at least 25% identified students who are automatically eligible for free meals to participate in the CEP program, Hardin County Schools operates by a 40% threshold. 

"If we used 25%, our expenses would vastly outweigh revenue, and we could come nowhere close to breaking even. Again, it's not about producing revenue, but it's about sustainability," he said. "We are not trying to make money or seek a profit off of lunch. We are trying to sustain our program and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars."

Families who want to apply for free or reduced lunch will be able to in July, but they must meet income eligibility requirements.

"It’s not like free or reduced lunch is going away," Wright said. "It’s not. It’s just free or reduced lunch for someone who doesn’t meet the guidelines is going away."

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