by Michael Sizemore

The Pacific Grove Unified School District is seeking families who qualify for free or reduced school lunches under the National School Lunch Program. Application forms have been sent to all district homes, according to Dianne Hobson, school nutrition director for the district. Applications are accepted throughout the year.

To receive the benefit applications must be filled out and turned into the school attended. Additional copies of the application form are available in each school office. Information submitted on the forms is subject to verification at any time throughout the school year.

To receive free lunches, a family of two must be at the monthly income level of $1,681 or below. To receive reduced price lunches a family of two must be at an income level of $1,681.01 up to $2.392. For a family of three the figures are $2,116 and up to $3,011, respectively. Each additional member of the family adds $436 to the income amount for free lunches and $620 to the amount for reduced price lunches.

Currently, according to Hobson, of the 2044 students enrolled in the district, 303 have been found eligible for free lunches and 137 qualify for reduced price lunches, with a total of 440 enrolled in the program.  This number represents 21.53 percent of enrolled students in the district.