BERNE — Publicizing indicators of poverty in schools — like free and reduced-price lunch rates — caused a debate last month over whether it was shaming families or championing a cause.

At the Feb. 16 Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Timothy Mundell addressed an article published in The Enterprise in late January, when Mundell spoke about the percentage of students getting free and reduced-price lunches doubling to 40 percent; he said that the rate was around 18 percent from 2005 to 2008.

“There is a growing trend across the region of increased — dramatically increased — free and reduced lunch rates,” said Mundell at the meeting.

In order to qualify for free lunch or breakfast, according to federal guidelines, a family of one must have an annual income of less than $15,444. For each additional person in the household, $5,408 is added. So, a household of four must have an income of less than $31,590 to qualify.

For a reduced-price meal, a family of one must have an income of less than $21,978. For each additional person in the household, $7,696 is added. So, a household of four must have an income of less than $44,955 to qualify.

Mundell said at the meeting that the state legislature is considering possible changes to Foundation Aid, and he needs to make the district’s needs heard. He said that he and the school board had met with Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara on Feb. 13 to do just that.

Speaking to the Enterprise, Santabarbara said they had spoken about the need to increase state aid to schools.

“We’re looking to fully fund state aid,” said Santabarbara, a Democrat whose legislative district includes BKW. “The funding is very critical for these schools.” He added that what Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed is only half of what is needed in aid to fund schools.

Santabarbara said this aid is needed to provide programs and resources for students, both during and after school, which includes bringing technology into the classroom, clubs and activities, and programs for students with disabilities.

The governor’s proposed state budget offers BKW a little over $6 million in Foundation Aid and a little under $10 million in total aid. Last year, BKW’s budget was $22.6 million.

Last year, the legislature increased aid over what the governor had initially proposed.

“There is a will in the legislature to make some changes to the Foundation Aid formula, and dramatically improve the resources above and beyond what the governor has proposed,” said Mundell.

He added that this sometimes means being categorized based on financial need in order to obtain necessary aid.

After he spoke, board member Lillian Sisson-Chrysler said that the categorization is what upset people.

“It concerned them that they are being labeled poverty stricken,” she said, adding that many feel they are not impoverished because they do work. “So many people up here...their jobs are in the summer months, they’re laid off in the winter,” she said.

Mundell responded that part of this concern over being labeled could lead to families opting out of free or reduced-price lunch when it’s needed.

“We probably don’t capture as many people as are eligible,” he said. He added that, since this is one of the ways aid is determined, new means of measuring a school’s need must be created.

“We can let them know,” said Matthew Tedeschi, the board’s president, of the families in the district, “There’s not a stigma tied to this; it’s a way for us all to get more money from the state.”

Higher rates of reduced-price and free lunch have been seen in other districts in the area, including suburban districts that are usually seen as middle-class. Last year, in the Voorheesville school district — which had been named the wealthiest upstate school system by Buffalo Business First the summer before — saw its rate for free or reduced-price lunch jump to 10 percent. Around the same time, the Guilderland school district saw its rate of economically disadvantaged students go from 5 percent in 2008 to 15 percent in 2016. The free and reduced-price lunch rate was at 17 percent that year for Guilderland. New York State, in total, had a rate of 52 percent.

Jessica Pino-Goodspeed, Child Nutrition Program Specialist at the not-for-profit Hunger Solutions New York, noted that these rates are of students who are eligible, and are not necessarily indicative of the rate of students participating. BKW, she said, has 40 percent of its students eligible, yet, of those, only 60 percent use the program.

In BKW, the rate of free and reduced-price lunch eligibility and participation is determined by how many students fill out a form and in turn qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, said school Communications Director Bill DeVoe. Out of the 812 students in the school, around 324 applied and qualified, he said.

The 40 percent Mundell had cited, he said, was determined from this. It currently is the only means the district can determine who is eligible, and also determines who is participating.

“If some students don’t apply, you don’t know if they’re eligible or not,” said DeVoe.

This percentage could go up, he noted, if the student population declines.

According to data on free and reduced-price lunch eligibility from the state’s Department of Education, which determines its data from the same means as the school, the 40 percent is divided between 35 percent eligible for free lunch and 5 percent eligible for reduced-price lunch at BKW.

Pino-Goodspeed said that getting over the stigma of free or reduced-price lunch, and in turn getting students to participate, can be done with actions by the school; including using a payment system for lunch that doesn’t involve cash, such as a personal identification number, or a school card; as well as getting students involved with creating the lunch menu, such as discussing healthy items that can be added.

Some schools, said Pino-Goodspeed, have looked at changing the way students sign up for free or reduced-price lunch — instead of filling out a form, the school would use information such as whether a family uses programs like the Home Energy Assistance Program, known as HEAP; Women, Infants, and Children Food and Nutrition Service, known as WIC; and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps; to determine eligibility.

Pino-Goodspeed said, however, that this would not stop students from facing the stigma of eating free or reduced-price lunch, particularly if they were also receiving assistance from other programs.

Other states, she said, have used data to certify families are eligible. Pino-Goodspeed also noted that this method could save time and resources.

“Schools spend a lot of resources filling out applications,” she said.