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Adoption Date: 9/1/2012
Regulations - Regulations


5660R FREE AND REDUCED PRICE MEAL PROGRAM

In fulfilling  its responsibilities under  the National  School  Lunch  and  Breakfast  Programs,  the

Marcus Whitman Central School District agrees to:

 

1)      Serve meals free to any student who has submitted an approved application and is a member of  a family  which  has  an  annual  income  below  the  applicable  family  size  income  level adopted by the School District, as prescribed by the New York State Education Department or to any student has been identified using the electronic direct certification matching of students receiving  SNAP!TANF  on  the  NYS  Education  Department  Child  Nutrition  Knowledge Center website.

 

2)      Prohibit the physical segregation of, or any other discrimination  against, any student because of his/her inability to pay the full price of meals.

 

3)      Follow  the  hearing  procedure  outlined  in  District  regulations  for  the  appeal  of  decisions regarding eligibility.

 

The Marcus Whitman  Central School District assures the New York State Education Department Child Nutrition Program Administration  that the School District will uniformly implement the following regulation  with respect to determining  the eligibility of students  for free meals in all National School Lunch and Breakfast Program participating schools under its jurisdiction.

 

Designated Officials

 

The District will designate a Reviewing Official, Hearing Official and Verification Official for the Child Nutrition Program as specified in the Certification of Acceptance submitted to the New York State Education  Department.  The Reviewing  Official  will be the School  Lunch Director who will determine which students  are eligible for free/reduced  meals or milk. The Hearing  Officer  may not be the same person as the Reviewing and/or Verification Officer.

 

Criteria for Determining Eligibility

 

The Marcus Whitman Central School District will use the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines for determining  eligibility for free and/or reduced price meals. The only specific criteria to be used will be gross family income and the number of individuals  in the family,  and will be uniformly  applied by all National School Lunch and Breakfast Program participating schools under the jurisdiction of the School District.  Criteria also includes families enrolled in the Food Stamp program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The scale based on the above criteria may be changed from year to year by the New  York  State  Education   Department  in  accordance  with  the  annual  United  States  Secretary  of Agriculture's  guidelines. Any change in the scales will be submitted to each School District by the New York State Education Department for their adoption. Districts may request changes in the prototype letter prior to printing through their regional office, if necessary.

Once approved for free/reduced price benefits, a household will remain eligible through September

30  of  the next school  year or  when  a new eligibility  determination is made  in the new school  year whichever comes first.

 

EligibilityProcess

 

The  online  Direct Certification  Matching  Process (DCMP)  offered  by NYSED  must be used by school  officials  to determine  eligibility  for free/reduced  meals and milk. DCMP  is a dataset  of those children and families already enrolled in the Food Stamp  program and Temporary  Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Students enrolled in these programs are automatically qualified for free/reduced meals and milk.

 

1)      The online dataset provides confidential information to approved District officials, which includes:

case name, student's full name, date of birth, age, and address (street, city, state and zip).

 

2)      The online process allows users to search by a number of variables to insure that as many students as  possible  are enrolled.  School  staff are advised  to keep a record  of the zip codes  within their school district to use during the certification process.

 

3)      Schools  will need to carefully  review the data to ensure  they capture  children  whose  names are spelled differently, have moved, use nicknames, or have siblings with different last names.

 

4)      District users must certify that this direct certification data will remain confidential, in compliance with federal disclosure requirements. Districts that use software to assist in the match or as part of their meal charge program must insure that the student data is not available to vendors, IT staff or any others not authorized to view the confidential records.

 

5)      The DCMP  process must be completed  three (3) times per school year in August, November  and February.

 

6)      Schools  must  send  a  letter  to households  of  directly  certified  students,  notifying  them  of  their children's free eligibility status. Parents can opt out of the free lunch program if they choose, by responding  to the notification  letter. Parents can also use the letter to notify the District of other children in the family who may have been missed in the certification process.

 

7)      Once a student is certified, they retain their eligibility for the school year.

 Public Announcement

 

Letter to Parents/Guardians

 

The Marcus Whitman Central School District will announce this policy on or about the beginning of each school year,and during the school year if there is a change in the policy, by transmitting the reduced price income scale, parent letter, and application to all parents/guardians. Any parent/guardian enrolling a student in a school for the first time at any time during the school year shall be supplied with such documents. This letter and subsequent information provided to parents will be clear and understandable,and to the maximum extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand.

 

Public Release

 

On or about the beginning of each school year, and during the school year if there is a change in the policy,a public release containing the same information supplied to parents/guardians as well as the free eligibility criteria will be made available to the local news media, the local unemployment office, and any major employers contemplating large layoffs in the areas from which the school draws its attendance. Documentation must be kept with the policy booklet for three years plus the current year identifying where the public release was sent. Copies of this policy may be obtained by any interested party at the District Office.

 

Application  Procedure

 

1)     At the beginning of each school year the Marcus Whitman Central School District will send a letter to the parents/guardians of each student, together with a Family Income Scale and a form on which to make application for consideration of eligibility of their children for free/reduced price meals.

 

2)     Parents/guardians will be required to complete the application and return the form for review. Only one "household" application is required for all children in the household attending schools in the District. Families may instead provide a "Direct Certification" letter from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). Such applications and records of action taken will be maintained by the School District. Upon approval or disapproval, notification will be given to the parent/guardianor student.

 3)     In certain circumstances where households obviously at an economic disadvantage have failed to apply for free/reduced price meals for their students, the District will use the administrative prerogative to complete the application for the student. This judgmental option acknowledges that families may fail to apply due to lack of understanding, fear of authority, alien status, substance abuse, etc. The application will be completed based upon the best information available regarding family size and income and will be excluded from the verification process. However, exhaustive prior efforts to obtain a completed application from the parent/guardian must be made and documented.

 

This option will be used judiciously on an individual basis and not to provide eligibility determinations for large numbers of students. Refer to questions and answers on Administrative Prerogative in the NYS Education Department Free and Reduced Price Income Eligibility and Policy Information Booklet.

 

4)      For homeless children for whom an application is not filed nor anticipated to be filed:

 

a.      The director of the homeless shelter at which the child resides can complete and submit the application·

 

b.      The District's homeless liaison may complete the application and approve the child for free meals based solely on his/her knowledge that the child is homeless; or

 

c.      If large numbers of homeless children make it impractical to complete individual applications, the District may establish a list of eligible students based upon knowledge of the family's residence (shelter, car, etc.) with at minimum the following information:

 

(1)    Child's name;

 (2)    Effective date of eligibility determination; 

(3)           Name of shelter, etc. where child resides; 

(4)         Signature of determining official; and

(5)    Date of withdrawal from the shelter, school or program.

 


Related Files

pdf Free and Reduced Price Meal Program Procedure (pdf file - 110kb)