$15,000 or less, according to the Center for Public

$15,000 or less, according to the Center for Public Service.

The letter also points out that Rappahannock schools qualify for a federal concentration grant because 13 percent of the students are from “low inhome families.”

Assistant Superintendent Robert Chappell said that the schools came up with that figure by counting all the students who qualify for free textbooks and/or free lunch. Students from families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children qualify for free textbooks. To qualify for the federally-funded free or reduced price lunch program the student’s parent or guardian must fill out a financial disclosure form listing household income.

Rose Ann Sharp, director of the Child Care and Learning Center, believes that the true percentage of children from “low income families” is much higher. CCLC was turned down for a grant they applied for with Culpeper to provide pre-school education for 17 “at risk four-year olds” because Rappahannock has such a high LCI.

Mrs. Sharp said the center applied to serve 17 children because that number represented 75 percent JF/the number of kindergarten children who qualified for free lunch.

That would indicate that 25 kindergartners, or about 25 percent of the children, qualify for free lunch. And Mrs. Sharp added, among regular clients of the day care center, normally 25 percent qualify for free lunch.

Mrs. Sharp said that as children get older they perceive that there is a stigma connected with receiving free lunch and their parents are less likely to apply. She also said more money has become available for Head Start, and the center has reapplied for a grant.

So Rappahannock rates as a “rich” county only when the value of real estate is the primary way of measuring wealth. By most other measures, Rappahannock rates more toward the “poor” end, somewhere just short of the middle of the scale.