Since the beginning of the current school year, a parent of two Carle Place School District students has been on a campaign to convince school administrators that there is a need for free and reduced priced lunches in the middle school and high school.

According to Lisa Corso, who has a daughter in Carle Place Junior High and a son in Rushmore Elementary School, parents with children who use the National School Lunch Program in the district's elementary schools are often unaware that the program is not offered in the secondary schools. And she said those parents often continue to need the service when their children graduate from sixth grade to the middle school.

School administrators, however, said up until now the district's parents have shown no interest in the free and reduced priced lunch program and so it determined there was no need to implement it. The district does offer free milk to eligible secondary school students.

But School Business Administrator Diane McWilliams said the district sent out a survey last week to parents to re-evaluate whether they want the schools to offer free or reduced priced lunches to those who are eligible in the secondary schools. She said the last survey done was in the early 1990s and maybe things have changed.

Jacqueline Dulik, director of food services, added that if the district does determine a need, administrators would have no problem instituting the program.

The state, however, does not mandate that districts use the National School Lunch Program in secondary schools. It is mandated in the lower grades.

The National School Lunch Program has been in Cherry Lane and Rushmore Schools since the early 1990s.

It is a federally funded program that reimburses school districts for meals given to children of low-income families.

Congress created the program over 50 years ago, in an attempt to ensure that all students are properly nourished during the school day.

Under the program schools are required to provide meals that fill one-third or more of students' Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA).

At full price the meals cost $1.75. Eligibility for reduced or free meals is based on household size and income.

According to Dulik, there are 45 students receiving free lunches and 20 receiving reduced priced lunches out of the 816 students in the elementary schools. Nine of the students in the program are sixth graders.

And while the numbers of students and their families who need the assistance may not be staggering, Corso said she does not understand why the Carle Place does not offer the program in the secondary schools when practically every district in Nassau County does, even what are considered to be high-income districts.

But McWilliams said she and other administrators have doubts about whether students would really eat the lunch if it were provided. Districts that offer the program are required to serve five component meals which include meat or meat substitute, vegetables, fruit, grains and breads, and milk.

"It has been my experience that the kids aren't going to buy it," said McWilliams who added that since she anticipates that most students would not want the five component lunches the district would still have to offer the a la carte items it currently does.

The breakfast and lunch menus at both the middle school and the high school are a la carte. For lunch, middle schoolers have a choice of a variety of foods including a cheeseburger for $1.50, hot dog for $1, cheese pizza for a $1, heros for $2, pasta entrees for $1.75, soup bowls for $1.25 or tuna, chicken or egg salads for $1.75. Drinks range in price from 20 cents for milk to $1 for Snapple. Snacks like cookies, potato chips and ice cream range in price from 25 cents to $1.

Corso said she has been giving her daughter, a seventh grader, $3 a day for lunch.

Meanwhile, she said she is doing whatever she can to encourage a policy change in time for September 1999.

A stay-at-home mom, Corso has devoted a great deal of time over the past few months to her cause. It began when her daughter entered seventh grade. Corso was upset to discover that her daughter was only eligible for free milk and that there was no free or reduced lunch or breakfast offered in the upper grades.

She started sending letters to school administrators to ask if the schools could adopt the program. She said after being told that there was no need for it, she turned to fellow residents hoping that maybe they would agree with her that there is in fact a need for it.

Corso said she has collected about 175 signatures from people urging the district to offer free and reduced priced lunches in the middle school. Residents and parents she approached with the petition, she said, were surprised to find out that it was not offered in the junior or senior high school and were eager to sign.

Ultimately, however, it is up to the school board to decide what if anything the district should do about the request.

McWilliams said that if the board did choose to implement the plan, to do so would require more than just a change in the menu. Initially, administrators and staff would have to be trained on how to run the program. She said it would also mean more paper work for administrators who will be responsible for making weekly and monthly reports of all free and reduced priced meals served.

The additional work load may even require the district to create a new staff position with a salary of about $32,000.

McWilliams added that the added duties of cafeteria staff might also slow down lunch lines, as well.

Corso, meanwhile, said she will volunteer to help out in the schools so the district could avoid the extra expense of hiring staff.

She said many people are unaware that there are children in the schools who come from families that can not afford the expense of lunch every day. While she is the only or at least the loudest voice championing the program, she added that when she was collecting petition signatures she met a handful of parents who are in need but do not want to speak out themselves.

Families that are hit by a sudden crisis such as a job layoff or illness may also find themselves in a position where free or reduced-priced meals could be a tremendous help, she said.

And as far as Corso is concerned, the additional work load administrators might have to take on would be worth the benefit.

"Even if it were only one child," she said.