The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) resource center provides extensive resources for parents, teachers, and school officials at the local, state and federal levels to better understand CEP and its benefits, along with useful tools to help facilitate successful implementation of the provision.
USDA offers prototypes of school meal applications, as well as sample instructional documents intended to assist state and local officials in the design and distribution of their own application materials.
The National School Lunch Program regulations specify the requirements for conducting Administrative Reviews. The documents on this page include the Administrative Review Manual and other documents and tools available for conducting these compliance reviews.
The goal of the school meal programs is to provide nutritious meals to children during the school day. Children may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them if they are categorically eligible for free meals or if they qualify for free meals based on federal poverty guidelines. Sometimes, however, children who do not qualify based on these standards would like a breakfast or lunch, but do not have money in their account or in-hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of the meal service.
This question and answer memorandum is designed to provide an overview of policies related to unpaid meal charges and to address common questions we have received from state agencies, school food authorities, and local program operators.
Featured here is USDA’s Web-Based Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals, along with accompanying guidance materials and resources.