Unless a school provides meals to all students at no charge, schools must permit families to apply for free and reduced-price meals. Schools must designate an Approving Officer to review and approve applications. Schools must also conduct verification of a sample of approved applications each year.
Meal Charge Policies
Beginning July 1, 2017, USDA requires all school food authorities to have a written and clearly communicated meal charge policy or procedure, which must be distributed to households at the start of each school year. The policy/procedure must clearly articulate how students will be charged for meals, as well as how SFAs will offer alternate meals, set limits on meal charges, manage debt on student accounts, and disallow meal charges or alternate meals when a student’s account has insufficient funds.
School Meal Free/Reduced Application
The school Year 2018 - 2019 forms are available for printing. The pages are designed to be printed on 8.5 x 11 paper; the meal and milk applications must be printed on white paper. Some pages may be printed front to back. You will need to identify benefits that your school offers such as breakfast and after-school snacks. The [bold bracketed fields] indicate where you need to insert your school-specific data and information.
Required information that must be provided to households includes the letter to households, meal or milk application, the Notice of Direct Certification, and the Notice to Households of Approval/Denial of Benefits.
- Meal Application for 2018 - 2019
- Spanish Meal Application for 2018-2019
- Nepali Meal Application for 2018-2019
- Applications in Languages other than English
- Milk Application for 2018 - 2019
- Reimbursement Rates 2018 - 2019
- Income Eligibility Guidelines 2018-2019
- Ameliorative Action List 2018 - 2019
- Independent Review Memo and List 2018-2019
- Vermont Appendix: Application Approval and Verification Process 2018-2019
- Eligibility Manual for School Meals
- Residential Child Care Institution, Free and Reduced Meal Income and Enrollment Documentation
- Homeless Liaison Contact List
Should you experience any difficulty in accessing these documents, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will work to provide information to you in an alternative format.
Verification
Verification is confirmation of eligibility, conducted by sampling 3% of applications. Coordinated by one person representing the School Food Authority or SU, Verification is started October 2 and results are reported in the online secure Child Nutrition Programs system no later than December 15. For more information about the Verification process, see page 96 of the USDA Eligibility Manual, or email Rosie Krueger, Child Nutrition Programs, or call (802) 479-1187.
- Webinar on the Verification of Free & Reduced Price Meals
- Paper Copy of Verification Form (Use this form to gather information for the on-line report.)
- Verification Calculator (Use this tool to determine how many applications must be verified)
- Verification Log (Use this worksheet to track progress on applications chosen for verification.)
Free and Reduced Eligibility Reports
The agency publishes an annual report showing the number and percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price school meals for every school that participates in the National School Lunch Program.
- 2017-2018 Free and Reduced Eligibility Report
- 2016-2017 Free and Reduced Eligibility Report
- 2015-2016 Free and Reduced Eligibility Report
Independent Review of Applications
Beginning in School Year 2014-2015, School Food Authorities that demonstrate high levels of, or a high risk of administrative error associated with certification and benefit issuance are required to conduct a second review of applications.
