1. Home
  2. Districts/Schools
  3. Child Nutrition and Food Distribution
  4. School Nutrition Program
  5. SNP Free & Reduced Price Information

SNP Free & Reduced Price Information

Medium

During the 2023 ND Legislative Session, the legislature expanded the federal poverty guidelines to include families who earn up to 200% poverty level. Families who qualify based on Federal or State Expanded Income Eligibility Guidelines (NDEIEG) will not need to pay for breakfast or lunch. The new State Free Eligibility will provide meal reimbursements for those students who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals under federal income guidelines, but whose income falls below the 200% poverty level. The supplemental state reimbursement is the difference between the USDA Federal Free and the USDA Paid Meal Reimbursement Rate.

The NDEIEG affects all schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program. It does not apply to any other Federal Reimbursement programs, such as Special Milk or After School Snacks. Schools should contact the software company they utilize for meal counting and application processing as soon as possible to receive updates before the 23-24 school year.

Process for determination

  1. Schools will use the North Dakota Expanded Income Eligibility Guidelines to determine if applications qualify for Federal Free, Federal Reduced, State Free, or Paid category.
  2. Schools must issue the approval letter provided by DPI or follow the DPI template for their own software system.
  3. Schools will claim meals in NDFoods based on Federal Free, Federal Reduced, Federal Paid, and State Free categories.

Free and Reduced Price Meal Application Processing Reminders

All families must receive an application for free or reduced-price meals.

  • Free and reduced-price meal applications for the 2023-24 school year can be prepared but not distributed or approved until after July 1, 2023. (Eligibility Manual for School Meals, page 11)
  • The Letter to Households must accompany the application.
  • The household must write their income information on the application form - the schools should not have to do this.
  • A determination must be made within ten days of receipt of an application.
  • Children may be claimed based on last year’s eligibility for the first 30 operating days of the school year or until a new application is filed, whichever comes first.
  • All applicants must be notified of the determination. Denied applicants must be notified in writing, either through the postal service or by email to the parent/guardian’s email address.

Benefits Prior to Processing Applications

Before applications are processed for the school year, the local agency may claim and be reimbursed for free and reduced-price meals or snacks, or free milk for these students:

  • Students from households with approved applications or Meal Benefit Notices on file from the previous year.
  • Newly enrolled children from households with children approved for benefits the previous year.
  • Previously approved children who transfer from one school to another under the jurisdiction of the same local agency. If the applications are not centrally maintained, both the sending and the receiving local agency must maintain a copy of the transferring student's application.

The above students must be allowed a 30-day carry-over of the previous eligibility determination. Once a current-year application is received, it takes precedence over the previous year's application.

Medium
Accordion Section Title
APPLICATION RESOURCES for FREE and REDUCED-PRICE SCHOOL MEALS

2023-2024 Application for Free and Reduced-Price School Meals

  • Please change the two sections highlighted in yellow to your school information before you print these applications for your households or send them out as an email. The highlight can be removed as well by clicking the    in the tools above.  We strongly encourage you to highlight the availability of Online applications to your households as they are so much more efficient for all involved in the process.  The online link is noted in the upper right-hand corner.  USDA data has shown that the more accessible a school district makes the process for parents/guardians, an increase in return rate will result.

Letter to Households: 2023-2024 version

  • The Letter to Households must accompany the Application for Free and Reduced-Price School Meal.  It explains why the parents should consider completing and returning the application if they fall under the income chart included in the letter. The income chart is the limit to qualify for reduced-price meals.  If a school district is participating in the Special Milk Program (SMP), the household should receive the free eligibility guidelines instead of the reduced-price chart in this letter. For schools participating in both the SMP and National School Lunch and/or Breakfast Program, households should receive both the free and reduced-price income guidelines. (Pg 12 Eligibility manual)
  • Please remember to ‘fill in the blanks with specific school district information, i.e., breakfast and lunch price

Instructions on How to Apply for Free and Reduced-Price School Meals

  • This colorful instruction sheet walks the household step by step through the application.  While the letter to households answers ‘frequently asked questions, this sheet lists the information needed by section.

Foreign Language Applications, Instructions, and parent letters

Information Release for Free & Reduced-Price Meal Application Determination

  • For school districts that choose to provide additional benefits such as free schoolbooks, computer insurance, instrument rental, exam fee waivers, or reduced athletic fees for children eligible for free and reduced-price meals, the school district must obtain consent forms from the household to make the eligibility available to programs outside of the school meal programs. Include the Information Release form with the Application if you have other programs using the eligibility information.
Accordion Section Title
Income Information for Determining Applications

Determining Applications Help Sheet

 

ND Expanded Income Eligibility Guidelines for 2023-2024 (School Use Only)

  • This sheet is used to determine whether the household income is eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals. This matrix has the number of people in the household along with the left-hand side and income levels that. Please print this sheet to store with your applications. But do not print this sheet for households or upload this sheet to the school website. This information is available in the federal code of regulations, so it is public information. But there may be a tendency for a household to misrepresent their income if they have this information readily available. 
  • This worksheet is for annualized incomes.

ND Expanded Income Eligibility Guidelines for 2023-2024 (Publishable)

Accordion Section Title
Letters of Eligibility Notification

Letters of Eligibility Notification

Notice of Predetermined Eligibility

  • For those households that are directly certified, this letter template can be used as a notification of their eligibility. School districts must notify the household in writing of the eligibility established through direct certification. This notification can be emailed if the email address is provided.
  • If this template is not used, please make sure that the letter you are using contains the following information:
  1. That the child is eligible for free benefits without filling out an application.
  2. That any other child in the household is also extended the free meal benefits
  3. How to notify the school district of other children in the household not listed on the notification
  4. How the household can notify the school district if the household does not wish to receive free benefits for directly certified children.

Notification Letter Regarding Outcome of Application for Free or Reduced-Price School Meals

  • All complete applications must be determined for eligibility and the household must be notified about the level of benefits they will receive or if they are denied.  This letter template can be used for notification of either eligibility or denial.  If this template is not used, please make sure that the letter you are using contains the following information:
  1. The level of eligibly whether free or reduced-price meals or
  2. If denied, a reason for denial must be stated.
  3. The household has the right to appeal the decision
  4. The contact information for a hearing official in case the household does not agree with the determination.
  5. If denied, the letter must state that another application may be submitted at any time during the year.

Notification for Carryover Period Expiration

  • This letter is not required to be sent to households; however, school officials are encouraged to clarify for families that the carryover of the household eligibility from the previous year will end after 30 operating days.  The letter should inform families to submit a new application for school meals to re-establish their child’s eligibility before the end of the carryover period. If a family does not respond to the letter by submitting a new application, benefits are terminated on the 31st day of operation.  The household does not have the right to appeal this termination as the eligibility is a carryover from the previous year’s application.
Accordion Section Title
Verification

Verification

Each school district must verify the information on 3% of eligible income applications received by October 1st each year.

Verification Tracker 

Letter to Household Selected for Verification

  • This letter template is to be sent to the household(s) that have been selected to verify the information on their application.  The household must receive this notification in writing, and it must provide a list of documents or other forms of evidence to confirm eligibility. It must also have a date by which the household needs to respond with the requested information. If the NDDPI template letter is not used for verification, please find the 10 requirements for a verification notification letter on page 107 of the Eligibility Manual or call our office to check that you have covered the requirements with your alternative document.

Notification of Change in Benefits/Termination of Free or Reduced-Price Benefit

  • If a household receiving benefits is found to have a reduction in meal benefits during verification or does not respond to the verification notice, the letter notifying the household of a change or termination of the free or reduced-price meals must be sent.  If benefits are terminated, the letter must state that the household may reapply for benefits if there is a change in their household.  The school district must give the household 10 days to respond before benefits are reduced or terminated.  

Verification Collection Help

Starting as soon as Sept 15th, Sponsors must verify (ask for documentation) 3% of the total number of income applications received by October 1 every year. Verification is confirmation of eligibility for free and reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program. The verification process must be separate from the approval process. Verification information may be provided at the time application is made for free and reduced-price meal benefits, but the application must be initially approved or denied based on the information supplied on the application. 3% is only 1 out of every 33 applications. When calculating the 3% all fractions must be rounded up to the nearest whole number.

Confirmation Review Before Verification

Each application selected for verification must be re-evaluated by a different person than the person who made the original determination. Once the required confirmation review is completed, the sponsor may proceed with verification if the initial determination was correct. If the confirmation review indicates the new eligibility status is to the household’s benefit, the sponsor should make the changes as soon as possible and proceed with verification. If the confirmation review shows that there should be a decrease in benefits. The sponsor proceeds with and completes verification before any notification of a new eligibility status is given.

Household Notification of Selection

When a household is selected for verification and is required by the sponsor to submit documents or other forms of evidence to document eligibility, the household must be sent a notice or letter informing them of their selection and of the types of information acceptable to the sponsor. Sponsors must provide households a means of asking questions about verification by telephone without the household incurring a charge for the call. When the sponsor verifies an application by contacting an agency such as FDPIR or County Social Services/SNAP to verify eligibility, the letter or notice of selection is not required.

Verification Documents

Verification documentation can be from any point in time between the month prior to application and the time the household is required to provide income documentation. Acceptable verification documents are listed for the following forms of income:

  • EARNINGS/WAGES/SALARY FOR EACH JOB:
    • Current paycheck stub that shows how often it is received-OR-
    • Signed letter from employer stating gross wages paid and how often they are paid
  • SELF EMPLOYED PERSONS (INCLUDING FARMERS)
    • A most recent copy of federal tax form 1040-OR-
    • If the previous year's tax form is not indicative of current income status, business or farming papers such as ledger or tax books may be used
  • SOCIAL SECURITY/PENSIONS/RETIREMENT
    • Social Security retirement benefit letter-OR-
    • Statement of benefits received-OR-
    • Pension notice
  • UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION/DISABILITY OR WORKER’S COMPENSATION
    • Notice of eligibility from State Unemployment Office-OR-
    • Check stub-OR-
    • Letter from Worker’s Compensation
  • SNAP OR TANF BENEFITS, FDPIR ASSISTANCE
    • Benefits letter from agency
  • CHILD SUPPORT/ALIMONY
    • Court decree, agreement, or copies of checks received.
  • ALL OTHER INCOME
    • Information or papers that show the amount of income received, how often it is received, and the date received.

If the household is unable to confirm its eligibility or refuses to cooperate in verification efforts, benefits must be terminated in accordance with the hearing procedures outlined in the sponsor's free and reduced-price policy statement.

Notice of Adverse Action

All households for whom benefits are to be reduced or terminated must be given ten calendar days' written advance notice of the change.

The first day of the advance notice period is the day the notice is sent.

The notice must advise the household of the following:

  • the change in benefits,
  • the reasons for the change,
  • that an appeal must be filed within the ten-day advance notice period to ensure continued benefits while awaiting a hearing and decision,
  • the instructions on how to appeal,
  • that the household may reapply for benefits at any time during the school year, and
  • that Food Stamp or TANF households may submit an application containing household names and income information and provide written evidence of current household income and the social security numbers of adult household members.

Completion of Verification

Verification of the selected/chosen sample size must be completed by November 15 of each year. Information must be recorded on the Verification Summary Report in NDFoods.

Online Verification Summary Report Instructions

  • Starting November 15th, school districts must file a summary of their verification report in ND Foods.  The instructions for collecting the data and filling out the report are linked above.

USDA Verification Tool Kit

 

Verification Summary Report Help Document

  • Even when we think the instructions for filing a federal report seem crystal clear, there can be confusion with wording, timelines, which data to use, and more.  Please access this help document to help answer your questions but feel free to contact NDDPI Child Nutrition and Food Distribution at any time with questions regarding verification, the application process, or the school meal programs in general.

All letters that reference federal school meal programs must include the nondiscrimination statement in its entirety, in a font that is no smaller than the majority of the text in the document. Please make sure that the nondiscrimination statement (NDS) is the one used by USDA-FNS.  NDS for Title programs, the school district, and others are often different than the school meal program NDS.

The following videos will guide you through the Verification Reporting Process.

SFA Verification Collection Report - Gathering Information - https://youtu.be/-PN29wFBTUg

SFA Verification Collection Report – Report Completion