Seven Arizona Schools' Participation in the National School Lunch Program

This is the second of two reports on Arizona’s participation in the NSLP. The first report provided a statewide overview of NSLP and the program’s demographics. This report describes the program’s operation at seven schools selected to represent a cross-section of Arizona schools. In particular, this report describes results of eligibility verification for 100 percent of approved NSLP applications at the seven schools. On average, their school districts reported 35 percent of the sample schools’ students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. However, auditors found that 27 percent of the approved applications were incomplete or missing and should not have been approved. Further, based on income documentation, 43 percent of students were eligible for their approved level of meal benefits, 14 percent were not eligible or were eligible for reduced benefits, and 1 percent was eligible for increased benefits.  Another 41 percent of students lost meal benefits because their households did not respond to verification. Overall, the results of 100 percent verification reduced the seven schools’ percentage of eligible students from 35 percent to 22 percent.