DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 7
September 5, 2008
REGULATORY
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K.
Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Automatic
Eligibility for Free Meal Benefits Extended to All Children Enrolled in Head
Start |
The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (Public
Law 110-134) amends sections of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (NSLA) to extend automatic eligibility for free meal benefits to all
children enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start. Previously, only those children who were
income eligible for Head Start were considered automatically eligible for free
meals in the school nutrition programs.
This change allows any child enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start
to be automatically eligible for free meals without further application or
eligibility determination.
All
children enrolled in Head Start, regardless of household income level, are considered
automatically eligible for free meals in the USDA meal programs in
participating Virginia schools effective with the beginning of the 2008-2009
school year. Automatic eligibility for
free meals also applies to participants in the Early Head Start program, a
federally-funded child development program that provides services to low-income
infants, toddlers, and in some instances pregnant women, which has the same
income eligibility criteria as Head Start.
Prospective mothers must be enrolled in Early Head Start and be eligible
to receive school meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs
to establish automatic eligibility.
Children enrolled in the Head Start or Early Head Start programs
are considered automatically eligible for free meal benefits effective with the
first day of the 2008-2009 school year.
This eligibility is retroactive to the first day of the 2008-2009 school
year in divisions where school started before this memo was posted. The school nutrition program approving
official must obtain a listing of enrolled children from the Head Start or
Early Head Start program coordinator in order to determine these children as
free eligible. Documentation of enrollment must be kept up-to-date and on file
with the school division's meal eligibility records. Head Start and Early Head Start students considered
free eligible due to their enrollment in the programs should be treated as
directly certified students for the purposes of eligibility determination and
verification in the USDA meal programs.
Meals
served to children enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start programs in
schools that participate in the USDA meal programs may be claimed in the free
category. Reimbursement will be paid at the free rate
for meals that: meet reimbursable meal requirements; are served to eligible
children; are documented at the point of service; and, are claimed by the
school nutrition program in the monthly claim for reimbursement.
Children
enrolled in the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) are not automatically
eligible for free meals since the eligibility criteria for the VPI are different
from that of the Head Start program. Applications for meal benefits must be
used to determine free or reduced-price meal eligibility for these children. Children enrolled in the VPI without an
approved free or reduced price meal application on file must be considered full
price eligible and claimed as such.
Questions
regarding automatic free meal eligibility for students enrolled in Head Start
or Early Head Start should be directed to the school nutrition program specialist
assigned to the division, or to Catherine Digilio Grimes, director of school nutrition
programs, at (804) 225-2074 or by e-mail at catherine.digilio-grimes@doe.virginia.gov.
BKCJr/CDG/idl