Students line up for school lunch in the Netzaberg housing area near the U.S. Army’s Tower Barracks in Grafenwöhr, Germany. Families with students at any Defense Department school are eligible to apply for free or reduced-priced school meals during the government shutdown. (Julie Mitchell/Army and Air Force Exchange Service )
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Families with students in Defense Department schools can apply for free or reduced-price school meals for as long as the government shutdown lasts, according to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
The temporary assistance is intended to provide relief to military and civilian families whose finances have been affected by a loss of income in the weeks since Oct. 1, when the shutdown began.
A full-price lunch costs $3.50 at Department of Defense Education Activity elementary schools and $3.75 at middle and high schools, according to the AAFES school meal program website. Breakfast costs $2 across all grade levels but is not offered at all schools.
Reduced prices are 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast. The determination of whether students from qualifying families receive meals for free or at the reduced price is based on income and family size.
Applicants are usually required to provide proof of income, such as a leave and earnings statement, and are expected to reapply each school year, according to the program’s website.
During the shutdown, however, workers whose salaries aren’t being paid may leave the income field blank on the application, according to an AAFES statement emailed to Ramstein High School parents by school administrators Thursday.
Applications can be submitted through through LINQ Connect, a lunch money management platform used at many Department of Defense Education Activity schools or through the school’s meal program representative.
Although AAFES manages cafeterias at only 73 of DODEA’s 161 schools, students at all DODEA schools are eligible to apply, AAFES representative Travis Day said Friday in response to questions.
Once the government reopens, eligibility will revert to income-based, and families must reapply using updated income information, the email said. The message was sent one day after the current shutdown became the second-longest in U.S. history.
In December 2018, the government shut down for 35 days before reopening Jan. 25, 2019. The current shutdown would reach its 35th day on Nov. 4.
