As more students applied for free and reduced lunch this year, more federal grant money will be forked over to the school district.

Since October 9, the students accepting free or reduced lunch rose by 13 at Center School, by five at Old Hammondtown School, by 23 at Rochester Memorial Elementary School, by 35 at Sippican School, and by 43 at ORR junior and senior high schools.

The number of students accepting free or reduced lunch helps determine how much money the federal government awards the district each year.

Commonly called Title One, after a section of the congressional act that created it, the money is used to educate children in low-income families.

Those numbers spell an increase in funds. In Marion, Title One funds now total $40,848. In Mattapoisett, Rochester, and the ORR District the totals are $35,739, $39,140, and $35,889 respectively.

The recent requests for free and reduced lunch participants, though modest, become important when the total grant money is considered.

“Title One allows us to direct intervention programs for students and these numbers are hugely significant,” said Assistant Superintendent and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Elise Frangos, of the Old Rochester Regional School District.

Throughout the three towns, families at or near the federal government’s definition of poverty are in the minority.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the average income for a tri-town family is $112,523.

Survey data shows that families earning $25,000 a year or less make up 6.4 percent of families in Marion, 5.5 percent in Mattapoisett, and 3.4 percent in Rochester.

That information, the latest available, was gathered between 2007 and 2011. The survey provides data every year to help communities plan investments and services

As more kids apply for free and reduced lunch, school officials want to help without drawing attention to the student’s plight.

“The challenge for us is how do we handle disadvantaged students in a way that doesn’t stigmatize them?” Frangos said.

School officials are trained to discretely watch for behavior indicating when a student may need assistance. Though filling out free and reduced lunch application forms is preferred.

“We encourage families who are shy to fill out the free and reduced lunch applications. It’s not a fall from grace. People can go from being gainfully employed one month to being in dire straits,” she said.

Forms are available at the high school’s central office.

The Title One money funds books, staff, and intervention programs designed to improve literacy, math, and science skills.

Above all, the programs are supplement to student instruction, not a replacement, to offer equal access for students of families earning a range of incomes.

“Economics shouldn’t be a challenge to education,” Frangos said.