Percent Students Receiving Free and Subsidized School Meals (PI4555)

This metric is intended to capture the percentage of students at a school receiving free or reduced-price school meals funded, not by the organization itself, but rather by a third-party institution or program (such as a government program). Therefore, the students are not considered clients receiving free products from the organization.

Both full- and part-time students should be included in this calculation, if applicable, with each discrete student counted once regardless of the number of courses taken.

This metric is frequently used as a proxy of poverty at the school level. For example, a financial institution that provides a loan to a school may seek to gauge the income level of the targeted stakeholders of its loan by requiring the school receiving the loan to report this metric. Organizations are also encouraged to report metrics such as School Enrollment: Poor (PI7254), School Enrollment: Very Poor (PI5583), or School Enrollment: Low Income (PI2173) if they have additional demographic details available.

Organizations operating in the United States can refer to the following sources for additional information on free and reduced-price meal programs and eligibility:

• New America: School Funding and Resources/Nutrition and Schools (http://atlas.newamerica.org/federal-school-nutrition-programs#toc-eligibility-and-enrollment)
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service: Income Eligibility Guidelines (http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines)

Organizations that wish to report on the number of subsidized or free school meals provided (both directly and indirectly by other organizations) can use the metric School Meals (PI6971).