Question about Free/reduced lunch

I know there are some teachers/school administrators on this board and am looking for help with this: do kids who qualify for free or reduced price lunch receive an identifying number/card/ etc? 

I am working with a nonprofit that runs a fee-based program and we are developing our scholarship program, looking at ways to determine proof of need.

Thank you!

they can't be made to stand out by having a card that identifies them as receiving free/reduced.  some districts have the same looking card for everyone, either parents fund the card or the program funds the card or parents/program each fund it. it has to do with privacy provisions and it being illegal to let others know in any way a peer is in the program.

the parents would be notified by letter of eligibility.

Thank you for your help! Is there any identifying info that the parent would easily have access to (like a number) so that we can confirm eligibility? We are needing to be a little stricter than just "check yes or no." Registration is done by parents and the information would not be seen by peers.

The way it works in my town, each year parents are required to fill out a federal form to determine eligibility. They enter income info, # of household members. Now whether the info on the form is vetted for accuracy I can’t speak to. Each child has their student ID # that they enter when they get their lunch. The who needs vs who doesn’t will not be known to others. That info is in the students profile/account and is used to bill the lunch accordingly. The only way others could know is if the student decided to pay cash for their lunch and the lunch lady goes “$0.60 cents” (reduced) rather than “$3.00” (full). But in a well functioning cafeteria everything is run on an account level. Parents pre-fund the lunch account and refill as needed. 

The school could give you the info you needed but I imagine it would be private. 

yes, there is a BIG problem with parents lying on the free lunch forms, so they actually aren't proof...i think it was elizabeth that had a big scandal....something like a board member getting free lunch when they were well over the limit...I'm sure it happens all the time.

could you have them send a copy of the letter?

The best way would probably be to notify the school of your program.  Then ask them to distribute to the kids they know are on reduced/free lunch.  If one of those students meets your criteria and you want to give him/her the scholarship, that is when you can ask the family to submit last year's tax return as proof.