Other LAs with a different set up for
free school meals applications (it often sits within another department) will need to work together to find common ground for the benefits of our pupils and schools.
Other LAs with a different set up for
free school meals applications (it often sits within another department) will need to work together to find common ground for the benefits of our pupils and schools.
During questions in the Lords following the memo leak, Lord Nash, the minister for the schools system, said that «66 grammar schools do now prioritise
free school meal applications».
Not exact matches
Identify best practices when designing
applications for
free and reduced price
school meals, and know how / where to access related USDA guidance and resources;
CEO allows
schools to serve
free breakfast and
free lunch to all students when 40 percent or more of students are certified for
free meals without a paper
application, which includes students who are directly certified (through data matching) for
free meals because they live in households that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), as well as children who are automatically eligible for
free school meals because of their status in foster care or Head Start, homeless, or migrant.
When the family fills out the
free meal application and lists $ 0 as their income, the student can get 8 weeks of temporary
free status; after 8 weeks, the family needs to fill out another
application (and so on, every 8 weeks for the whole
school year.)
Make it a priority for your
school district that every single family must return a
free meal application, even if the family already knows that they won't qualify for government subsidized
meals; those families can write «not interested» on the form, but their child MUST return the form to their teacher.
The CEP was one of the less publicized gains of the Healthy, Hunger -
Free Kids Act (HHFKA), allowing
schools to provide universal
meals to an entire
school based on «direct certification» data, such as how many children live in households receiving food stamps (SNAP benefits), without also requiring annual paper
applications submitted by parents.
I'm back from summer vacation in time to share some nice news: Houston ISD, the seventh largest district in the country, has announced that it's taking advantage of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) to provide universal (
free)
school breakfast and lunch to every student at 166 of its
schools, regardless of economic status, and without the need for
meal applications or other paperwork.
Identified students include those who qualify for
free meals because they live in households that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), as well as children who are certified for
free school meals without submitting a
school meal application because of their status as being in foster care, enrolled in Head Start, homeless, runaway, or migrant students.
Be knowledgeable about the
application process for
free school meals.
A
school, group of
schools, or an entire local educational agency (LEA or
school district) may operate under CEP if the LEA chooses to do so and if at least 40 percent of the total enrollment is approved for
free school meals without an
application.
A
school, group of
schools, or an entire local educational agency (LEA or
school district) may offer community eligibility if the number of children enrolled for
free school meals without a paper
application, referred to as «Identified Students,» is at least 40 percent of the total enrollment.
Disadvantage: The estimated ratio of students approved for
free meals without an
application to FRPL students may not be applicable to individual
schools or LEAs, especially if the LEA has been counting only
free meal recipients (see below).
Because students approved for
free meals without an
application are a subset of students who would qualify for
free or reduced - price
school meals if their families completed an
application, this approach is likely to lower the percentage of students considered low - income at all
schools.
The 1.6 multiplier is an estimate of the ratio of the total number of students approved for
free and reduced - price
school lunches to the number of students approved for
free meals without an
application.
Identified Students are always a subset of the students who would qualify for
free or reduced - price
school meals if their families completed an
application.
In preparation for the upcoming
school year, we encourage you to complete the
Application for
Free and Reduced Price
Meals at www.mymealtime.com by Friday, September 1, 2018.
California's existing direct certification process uses other entitlement program data, such as CalFresh, to identify low - income students and certify them for
free school meals — no separate paper
application for
meals is required.
As an alternative to collecting individual
applications for F / RP
meals, CEP allows
schools and local educational agencies (LEA) with a high percentage of low - income children to offer
free meals to all students.
The idea is to allow
schools with high percentages of low - income children to offer
free meals for all, instead of collecting individual
applications for
free and reduced price
meals.
For more information on
Free School Meals and to download an
application form please visit the Norfolk County Council website:
To apply for
free or reduced - price
meals, households must fill out the
application and return it to the
school.
As opposed to collecting individual
applications for
free and reduced - price
meals, the CEP allows LEAs and
schools meeting the eligibility requirements to use information provided from other direct certification programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Temporary Assistance Program for Needy Families (TANF).
For states and localities where universal access is unrealistic, an expansion of the community eligibility program, which allows
schools and districts in low - income areas to serve
free breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting
applications, would be an interim step to consider.44 Making
free meals universal would ensure that all students experiencing food insecurity have access to healthy, nutritious
meals; end the stigma surrounding
school lunch; and eliminate administrative barriers to accessing the program.