[Hoot Gibson]

I like the idea of free lunches. What does it cost? $1.50 to feed a kid? Very worth it. If we have problems funding it, why don't we cut some of the Decisions makers salaries, free health insurance benefits, etc... to fund it

I don't know the exact answer to your question but I seriously doubt that it only costs $1.50/day to feed a child in a school cafeteria, even if that is the price charged to the student. To calculate the cost, you would need to include the cost of the facility; wages and benefits of the cooks, administrators, and custodians who clean the building; as well as the cost of a share of the overhead in the central district office. If the total cost of a school lunch is only $1.50 per child per day, then I say that district is being managed extremely well.

I also question why the Pikeville Independent District does not qualify for the program. I am going to assume because the program targets the poorest school districts - but if that is true, then wouldn't the smaller percentage of kids eligible for free and reduced cost lunches be more stigmatized than those in the poorer districts, where such kids often constitute the majority of the students?