Uptake in low-income students pushes private school to adopt policy for free, reduced-price meals

LAYTON — Layton Christian Academy has adopted a new policy making it possible to feed its low-income students for free or at a reduced price — a first in the private school's history.

The school has been working for over a year to get to the point of providing free and reduced lunch to its students, something Layton Christian Academy's Head of School Chris Crowder said is a difficult process but is needed more than ever.

"One of the reasons why we're doing it is with the new Utah Fits All Scholarship, it's the first time in the history of Utah that parents have been able to get some funding to be able to attend a private school," Crowder said.

Out of the 290 domestic students attending Layton Christian Academy, 80 of those students use Utah Fits All and have qualified for the child nutrition program, according to Crowder.

"When they come over to us, they don't get free and reduced lunch because they were getting that at public school, but not here," Crowder said. "So we really felt like about 30% of our students fall into that category. And we felt like we needed to do this to help them so that parents could have that free and reduced lunch."

With the PK-12 school being the largest international boarding school in the United States, there are currently another 210 international students enrolled at the school, according to Crowder.

Between all the students attending, Crowder said cafeteria workers prepare about 1,400 meals a day. While preparing food, workers must track and follow strict dietary specifications, nutrition limits and other rules or risk losing the school's access to food programs.

"They're happy to (follow the rules) so that these families can benefit from it," Crowder said.

Through the private school's new policy, students from eligible households are able to apply and receive free and reduced-price meals and free milk under the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, After School Snack and/or Special Milk programs.

Eligible students are able to use the programs to receive free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at Layton Christian Academy.

Households can submit an application at any time during the school year, and if a family's situation changes or a household member becomes unemployed, students could become eligible for free or reduced-price meals or free milk.

Layton Christian Academy is already accepting free and reduced-price applications for the 2026 to 2027 school year. Crowder's hope is that other private schools will follow suit and make free and reduced-price meals a priority now that Utah Fits All is opening more educational doors to low income households.