Unless a school is operating a non-pricing school meals program (CEP or Provision 2 for breakfast and lunch), schools must encourage households to apply for free and reduced-price meals. Schools must designate a Determining Official to review and approve applications. Schools must also conduct verification of a sample of approved applications each year.
Benefit Issuance for School Year 2021-2022
Below, you will find the 2021-2022 School Meals Letters, Applications, and Notifications. 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 into the templates.
Required information that must be provided to households includes the Application Cover Letter and Instructions, Application, the Notice of Direct Certification Pre-Approval for School Meals, and the Benefit Notification Letter.
Tools and Information for Approving Officials
- Income Eligibility Guidelines 2021-2022
- Homeless Liaison Contact List
- Direct Certification Status Form (Excel Version for Secure Email)
- Direct Certification Status Form for Independent Schools
- Benefits of Having Higher Free and Reduced Percentages
- Reimbursement Rates 2021-2022 (not yet released by USDA)
- Memo on P-EBT Benefits - Instructions for School Meals Determining Officials
Applications and Related Templates for the School Meals Programs
- Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals 2021-2022
- Meal Application Cover Letter and Instructions 2021-2022
- Spanish Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals 2021-2022
- Spanish Meal Application Cover Letter and Instructions 2021-2022
- Nepali Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals 2021-2022
- Nepali Meal Application Cover Letter and Instructions 2021-2022
- Additional Prototype Applications and Household Letters in Languages Other Than English
- Notification of Direct Certification Pre-Approval for School Meals Template
- Reminder Regarding Expiration of Previous Year Eligibility Benefits Template (This document will be posted if USDA guidance indicates it should be sent in School Year 2021-2022)
- Benefit Notification Letter Template
FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
Applications and Related Templates for the Special Milk Program
- Application for Free School Milk 2021-2022
- Milk Application Cover Letter Template
- Notification of Direct Certification Pre-Approval for Free School Milk
- Benefit Notification Letter Template
Benefit Issuance Documents 2020-2021
- Income Eligibility Guidelines 2020-2021
- Reimbursement Rates 2020-2021
- Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals 2020-2021
- Meal Application Cover Letter and Instructions 2020-2021
- Spanish Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals 2020-2021
- Spanish Meal Application Cover Letter and Instructions 2020-2021
- Nepali Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals 2020-2021
- Nepali Meal Application Cover Letter and Instructions 2020-2021
- Notification of Direct Certification Pre-Approval for School Meals Template
- Reminder Regarding Expiration of Previous Year Eligibility Benefits Template
Provision 2
Provision 2 reduces application burdens and simplifies meal counting and claiming procedures. It allows schools to establish claiming percentages and to serve all meals at no charge for a 4-year period. Schools must offer meals to all participating children at no charge for a period of 4 years. During the first year, or base year, the school makes eligibility determinations and takes meal counts by type. During the next 3 years, the school makes no new eligibility determinations and counts only the total number of reimbursable meals served each day. Reimbursement during these years is determined by applying the percentages of free, reduced-price, and paid status meals served during the corresponding month of the base year to the total meal count for the claiming month. The base year is included as part of the 4 years. At the end of each 4-year period, the State agency may approve 4-year extensions if the income level of the school’s population remains stable. Schools electing this alternative must pay the difference between Federal reimbursement and the cost of providing all meals at no charge. The money to pay for this difference must be from sources other than Federal funds.
To help with collecting applications, schools can elect to do “delayed implementation” of Provision 2, where they do not start offering meals at no cost until October 1st.
Policy Statement for Free and Reduced Meals - Provision 2 Amendment (due by October 15th of applicable school year)
Household Income Form for CEP, Provision 2, or Schools Not Participating in NSLP
The school meals application may only be used when the primary purpose is to obtain information to qualify students to participate in the school meals programs. Schools in the following situations may not use the school meals application to collect family income information, and should instead use the below Household Income Form if they need to obtain family income information for other purposes:
- Schools operating the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
- Schools who are operating Provision 2 and are not in a base year
- Schools who are not participating in the National School Lunch Program
School Year 2021-2022
Household Income Form for 2021-2022
Spanish Household Income Form for 2021-2022
Nepali Household Income Form for 2021-2022
School Year 2020-2021
Household Income Form for 2020-2021
Spanish Household Income Form for 2020-2021
Nepali Household Income Form for 2020-2021
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 based on the number of approved applications on file as of October 1, 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, email Rosie Krueger, State Director of Child Nutrition Programs, or call (802) 828-1589.
- Verification Process Training PowerPoint
- Verification Process Documents
- 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 Worksheet (Use this worksheet to track progress on applications chosen for verification.)
- Error-Prone Income Eligibility Guidelines for School Year 2021-2022
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. This information is reported by the schools.
- 2020-2021 Free and Reduced Eligibility Report
- 2019-2020 Free and Reduced Eligibility Report
- 2018-2019 Free and Reduced Eligibility Report
- 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 attend benefit issuance training, conduct a second review of applications, and complete the Independent Review Report.
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.
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.
