Eligibility for the free and reduced-price lunch program is tied directly to income levels. Students from a family of four are eligible for free lunches if their family's annual income is $29,055 or less; students from a family of four with a family income up to $40,900 are eligible for reduced-price lunches.
In the Mt. Lebanon School District, eligibility rose from 6.1 [in 2006] to 8.8 percent [in 2010].If there are any eligible Lebo Citizens readers with kids in high school, make sure to talk with your child's guidance counselor. SAT fees and many college application fees can be waived. If only the School Board and Commission majority would have taken off their Rose-colored glasses before approving the high school project.
Read more: More students in Western Pennsylvania qualify for free, reduced-cost lunch - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_722661.html#ixzz1DtoS2sS3
Few if any in the School District or the Muni. government paid any real attention to the 2000 U.S. Census data for Lebo....it and updates to 2007 are actually available on the Muni website - dare you to find them....and some of you would be shocked to learn that we are not the "cake eaters" community that prevailed 30-50 years ago.
ReplyDeleteHopefully more public officials and citizens will study the soon to be released and complete 2010 Census results to see if the income disparity and number of just above-at-and below poverty line families and households are continuing to increase.
A contributing factor beyond the recession and economic debacle we are dealing with, if such increases were to be the case, would undoubtedly be an increase in the number of what is quietly referred to by teachers and real estate agents as "the process families".
Bill Lewis
Bill, who are the "process families?" Are they the ones who move in for the schools and then move out?
ReplyDeleteElaine
According to reports of those most familiar, the "process families" are low income families with one or two young children, the oldest of whom is 5 or 6, who move into Lebo from an outlying community with a poor school district. They move into very modest Lebo dwellings, oft times rental properties, whose annual school taxes might be in the neighboorhood of $2,000-$3,000. Earned income taxes based on 0.8% for MTLSD might add another $300 or $400. For this they receive a now $15,000/yr. plus education at one of the leading school districts.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as the last child graduates, the family moves out of Lebo to a lower taxed area. This in no way implies that all low income families are "process families", for that is not the case....there are even some middle income families that play a similar game. It also appears to be the case that many "process families" do not contribute to the general welfare of Lebo through volunteerism in municipal and local non-profit organizations and activities.
While this sort of thing has been around for many years, the concern is that the incidence may very well be increasing, as possibly evidenced by the increasing number of "free and reduced lunch" students.
Bill Lewis
Don't forget this thread, Bill. 15228 drops significantly in median household income
ReplyDeleteThis goes along with my previous comment about how the School Board's whopping tax increase is ruining the community. The data is out there, but nobody in our local government majority wants to admit that.
In January the Pittsburgh Business Times showed that the 15228 zip code dropped to number 17 in median household income, just above Bethel Park that ranked number 18.
ReplyDeleteReading the Almanac I see ML homes in ML selling in the $115,000 price range.
The reassessment that hits next year will have to boost the higher priced homes upward for ML to afford an $18,000 cost per student in five years.
$300,000-$400,000 homes show a very modest number of sales but the number of sales above $400,000 is very small.
But why would a school board member, an administer or a commissioner bother to check the real estate sales to see if their high school project is affordable?
Just think folks, if Raja can afford the high school then everybody can, right?
ReplyDeleteJohn Ewing