January 8, 2009
TO: Sponsors of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs
RE: School Policy on Charged Meals/Denying Meals as Disciplinary Action
The Oregon Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs (ODE CNP) received guidance from USDA concerning the School policy on charged meals/denying meals as disciplinary action.
Charged Meals
There has been some confusion on the official stance of USDA and ODE CNP regarding charged (emergency) meals. The official position is that local officials are responsible for the daily operation of the program and have full authority to establish policies to collect money from children who are paying for their meals. Schools may choose to provide charged meals while others may elect not to provide a meal to the child unless the whole price is paid when the meal is received.
USDA is aware that schools may not make meals available to children who do not pay for their meals because of prior issues with re-payment. Schools are not required to provide meals to non-paying full price or reduced price students.
In these cases, there are some options available to schools/districts:
- Schools may elect to provide an alternative meal such as a cheese or peanut butter sandwich at no charge to the student. Since the student is not being offered the required menu items/food items this type of meal is not reimbursable. Therefore, the meal is not regulated by USDA and the cost will be incurred by the district/school.
- Provide a basic reimbursable meal to the child (all five food components offered for Traditional Food Based or entree plus two other items for Nutrient Standard Menu Planning), so that reimbursement can help pay for the food and labor cost incurred.
- Schools can setup a PTA or school fund that deals with student charging related issues.
- If schools choose to not provide alternative options, ODE CNP strongly encourages them to create a policy that provides privacy and courtesy to the student/family involved in the situation.
A student approved for free meals cannot be denied a meal if there is an account for extra items (a la carte) that is overdue. Schools are not required to allow a child to charge any extra sale items. Schools may also not deny a meal to free approved children for meal charges incurred while their meal benefit application was being processed.
Whatever policy the school or food service establishes, the district must assure that the policy does not discriminate against or single out any group of students. In addition, the district/school/food service must advise ALL households of the policy to ensure that if a student fails to comply with the policy they understand the consequences. ODE CNP strongly recommends that all districts have a charging policy that has broad input from the school community and is board/administrator approved.
Disciplinary Action Children cannot be denied a school meal as disciplinary action. FNS instruction 791-1 outlines this policy (
enclosed 
). The school is not required to allow a child being disciplined to eat at the table with classmates.
Some acceptable actions taken by schools may include:
- Children being disciplined eat at a separate table in the dining room facing away from other children.
- Children being disciplined are served their meal under supervision in the classroom, separate room, or principal’s office.
The meal served to children being disciplined can be claimed for reimbursement as long as it contains the required components. It may be the regular meal or it may be a sack lunch/breakfast.
If you have questions, please contact your assigned child nutrition specialist.
Sincerely,
Heidi Dupuis
Manager, School Nutrition
Child Nutrition Programs
Office of the Superintendent