Introduction and Overview

Free and Reduced-Price Benefits

All children enrolled in the school are eligible to participate in the program and to apply for free and reduced-price benefits. Both free and reduced-price meals must be offered. No child may be denied benefits if he or she has submitted a properly completed valid application that has been approved by the LEA or has been directly certified as eligible as a recipient of food stamps, or assistance from the Family Employment Program (FEP) or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).

In school settings, there is no age restriction for participation as long as students are working toward graduation or a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, not just upgrading skills. RCCIs are limited to enrollees age 21 or younger. Participation in the SMP is limited to those under age 19. In a case where mentally or physically disabled students are participating in a school program, there is no age limit.

Utah has a prototype Free and Reduced-Price Meal Policy, which is the model for the document required for all LEAs. This policy states the institution's administrative procedures and duties in offering free and reduced-price meals or free milk to children. If LEAs do not adopt the prototype, they must design their own policy statement for USOE approval.

Schools must ensure that there is no overt identification of children who receive free or reduced price meals or milk in collecting applications or payments or in serving meals or milk. There can be no physical segregation of any child, nor any other discrimination, because of inability to pay full price for meals or milk. The names of children eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals or free milk shall not be published, posted, or announced, and these children cannot be overtly identified by special tokens, tickets, or other means. Eligible children shall not be required to work for meals or milk, use a separate service area, go through a separate serving line, enter the service area through a separate entrance or at a different time, or be served meals or milk that vary from what is sold to children paying the full price. Access to the information provided by households on their applications or through direct certification is limited to certain local, state, and federal officials.

LEAs cannot charge students who receive reduced-price meals more than 40 cents for lunch or 30 cents for breakfast, and the charge must always be less than the full price. The reduced price may be as low as zero for the student; however, the reimbursement rate remains the same. The reduced-price meal charge must be the same in high schools and elementary schools to ensure that all children from the same household receive equal benefits. (The charge for a full-price meal may be different in secondary and elementary schools.)

By November 15, LEAs must verify the eligibility information of a sample of approved households whose applications were on file as of October 1. Verification is not required for households whose eligibility has been directly certified by state or local agencies.

Information to help determine student eligibility for free and reduced-price meals and to conduct verification is found in the supplementary booklet, Eligibility Guidance for School Meals Manual (FNS-274). A description of the procedures for verification are included in Eligibility Guidance for School Meals Manual, in the Supplementary Materials binder.