Overview
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides reimbursement for meals served in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) of the NSLP, snacks served in the Afterschool Snack Program (ASP), and milk served in the Special Milk Program (SMP), when these meals, afterschool snacks, and milk meet program requirements and are served to eligible students. To obtain this reimbursement, local educational agencies (LEAs) must accurately count, record, and claim the number of meals, afterschool snacks, and milk served to students by eligibility category and maintain adequate documentation on file to support the claim. Reimbursable meals, afterschool snacks, and milk must be counted, recorded, consolidated, and reported through a system that consistently yields correct claims.
Prevent Overt Identification
The LEA's meal counting and claiming processes must prevent overt identification. Overt identification is action that may result in a child being recognized as potentially eligible to receive or certified for free or reduced-price meals or afterschool snacks. LEAs must ensure that a student's eligibility status is not disclosed at any point in the process of providing free or reduced-price meals or afterschool snacks, including:
- notification of the availability of free or reduced-price benefits;
- certification and notification of eligibility;
- provision of meals in the cafeteria;
- at the point of service; and
- through the payment method.
For more information, refer to USDA Memo SP 45-2012: Preventing Overt Identification of Children Certified for Free or Reduced Price School Meals.
Point-of-service Meal Counts
The point of service is the moment in the meal, snack, or milk service where staff can accurately determine that a reimbursable free, reduced-price, or paid meal has been served to an eligible child (NSLP and SBP) or that a reimbursable snack has been served to an eligible child (ASP) or that a reimbursable milk has been served to an eligible child (SMP).
- For cafeteria-style meal service, staff must record point-of-service meal counts after all meal components of a reimbursable meal have been offered to the student. This is typically at the end of the serving line
- For pre-plated meal service (included bagged meals), staff must record point-of-service meal counts when the student receives the meal.
- For family-style meal service and combination-style meal service, staff must record point-of-service meal counts while students are eating, but no later than the conclusion of the meal.
Meal counts cannot be taken before or after the meal, snack, or milk service. The USDA does not allow any other methods to determine meal counts, such as student attendance, orders for meals, snacks, or milk, and the number of meals, snacks, or milk sent to or returned from satellite locations. Meal counts must be recorded by trained staff who are familiar with the meal pattern requirements and can recognize reimbursable meals and afterschool snacks.
For more information on meal service, refer to the CSDE's Guide to Meal Service Requirements for Grades K-12 in the NSLP and SBP and Guide to Meal Service Requirements for Preschoolers in the School Nutrition Programs.