GARDEN GROVE : Schools to Offer Free, Reduced-Price Meals

Many Garden Grove Unified School District students may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, a spokesman said this week.

Applications for the program, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will be distributed to all students next month, district spokesman Alan Trudell said.

Students may be eligible based on the number of people in their household and their family’s income. For example, children in a household of four would be eligible for free meals if the family earned less than $19,240 a year. The same children would be eligible for reduced-price meals if the family’s annual income is between $19,240 and $27,380.

Children from households that receive food stamps or Aid to Families With Dependent Children are automatically eligible. Their applications must include the names of all eligible children, the food stamp or AFDC case number and the name and signature of an adult in the home, Trudell said.

The cost of regular-price meals for other students remains unchanged for the 14th straight year. A basic lunch costs 75 cents for elementary school students, 80 cents for intermediate school students and $1 for those in high school. Those prices are the lowest in the county, Trudell said.

The school district serves most of Garden Grove, and parts of Santa Ana, Anaheim, Westminster, Cypress, Stanton and Fountain Valley.

For more information about the reduced-price and free meals, parents may call the district’s food services office at (714) 663-6155.