We Paid For It: School Lunches

A startling fact: One in four Oklahoma children are at risk of going hungry every day, affecting them physically, emotionally and mentally. That makes fueling up during school lunch that much more important.

But did you know we're paying for hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma children to eat free or reduced meals at school?

Eligibility is based on household income and almost two-thirds of Oklahoma kids qualify. 342,000 students statewide meet the requirements. Another 66,000 pay a reduced rate,  typically $0.40 for lunch. That's compared to about $2.50 for other students.

So who's paying for our kids to eat at school? The programs are mostly federally funded. Oklahoma receives over $250,000,000 in federal dollars for meals each year. But the state must contribute too.

This school year, we will pay out around $4,000,000 for the free and reduced meals.

News 9 wanted to know what it's costing us at three of the largest districts in the state: Oklahoma City, Edmond and Norman.

* More than 34,000 OKC students receive a free or reduced school meal. That's about 88% of students.
* In Norman, 7,100 students qualify, just under half of the district students.
* And more than 6200 students, 28% in Edmond schools pay little or nothing to eat at school.

The total price tag for these three districts: more than $464,000.