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Resource | Webinars/Videos Unpaid Meals: Best Practices to Ensure Student Access to Meals

A webinar for state agencies and local program operators sharing proactive strategies to prevent and manage unpaid meal charges as schools return to standard counting and claiming in SY 2022-23.

08/31/2022
Resource | Policy Memos Questions & Answers Regarding Professional Standards for State and Local School Nutrition Program Personnel

This Q&A memorandum is designed to provide an overview of the policies related to the Professional Standards regulations for state and local school nutrition program personnel. 

01/14/2020
Resource | Final Rule Final Rule: Hiring Flexibility under Professional Standards

This final rule adds four flexibilities to the hiring standards for new school nutrition program directors in small local educational agencies and new state directors of school nutrition programs under the Professional Standards regulations for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

03/01/2019
Resource | Proposed Rule Proposed Rule: Hiring Flexibility Under Professional Standards

This proposed rule would add four flexibilities to the hiring standards for new school nutrition program directors in small local educational agencies and new school nutrition program state directors under the professional standards regulations for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

03/06/2018
Resource | Policy Memos 2017 Edition: Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge - Proven Strategies from Our Nation’s Schools

This is the 2017 Edition of Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge: Proven Strategies from Our Nation’s Schools. This best practice guide is designed to support state agencies and local program operators in their efforts to find workable solutions to the challenge of unpaid meal charges.

05/10/2017
Resource | Policy Memos Unpaid Meal Charges: Guidance and Q&As

This question and answer memorandum is designed to provide an overview of policies related to unpaid meal charges and to address common questions FNS has received from state agencies, school food authorities, and local program operators.

03/23/2017
Resource | Policy Memos Ensuring Year-long Eligibility in the School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs

The purpose of this memorandum is to strongly encourage local educational agencies to accept eligibility determinations from a transferring student’s former LEA to minimize disruptions in meal benefits for low-income students and avoid student debt resulting from unpaid meal charges.

08/05/2016
Resource | Policy Memos Unpaid Meal Charges: Clarification on Collection of Delinquent Meal Payments

There has been confusion about how unpaid meal charges must be handled when all collection efforts have been exhausted. To help address these situations, this memorandum clarifies the processes of designating delinquent debt that has been determined to be uncollectable as bad debt and obtaining assistance to offset bad debt losses.

07/13/2016
Resource | Policy Memos Unpaid Meal Charges: Local Meal Charge Policies

The purpose of this memorandum is to address the need for school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to institute and clearly communicate a meal charge policy, which would include, if applicable, the availability of alternate meals.

07/08/2016
Resource | Final Rule Correction to Final Rule: Professional Standards for State and Local School Nutrition Programs Personnel as Required by the HHFKA

This document contains a correction to the final rule published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2015, "Professional Standards for State and Local School Nutrition Programs Personnel as Required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010."

05/07/2015
Page updated: October 14, 2021