[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 200 (Thursday, October 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62095-62096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24575]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Request for Information: Unpaid Meal Charges

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; Request for Information.

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SUMMARY: The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs play a 
critical role in ensuring that America's children have access to 
nutritious food. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) subsidizes all 
school meals in participating schools in various ways including 
reimbursement for meals served based on the eligibility of the child 
receiving the meal. FNS reimburses schools at higher rates for those 
meals served to children eligible for free meals and reduced price 
meals. Schools are responsible for establishing paid meal prices for 
children who do not receive free or reduced price meals and whose meals 
are thus reimbursed by FNS at lower rates. If children do not have the 
required payment for meals on the day of service, schools may extend 
credit to the child for the meal. Generally, this process entails the 
school allowing the child to ``charge'' the meal with the understanding 
that the child will reimburse or pay back the school for the meal 
provided. Since credit policies are usually established at the school 
district level, they vary across the nation and within States and are 
not monitored by FNS.
    FNS considers access to healthy school meals including nutritious 
foods a critical function of the National School Lunch and School 
Breakfast Programs. Evidence shows that children who regularly eat 
healthy school meals perform better in the classroom and are less 
likely to be overweight. However, FNS also recognizes that allowing 
children to ``charge'' school meals can have financial impacts on 
individual schools and even school districts. This is especially true 
when meal charges are not subsequently paid, results in large unpaid 
meal charges and potential financial losses.
    Section 143 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) 
requires FNS--in conjunction with States and participating local 
educational agencies (LEAs)--to examine and report on the current 
policies and practices of State agencies and LEAs regarding extending 
credit to children by allowing them to ``charge'' the cost of school 
meals on the day of service.
    As required by the HHFKA, this examination must include the 
feasibility of establishing national standards for extending credit to 
children by allowing meal charges, establishing national charges for 
alternate meals which might be served, and providing recommendations 
for implementing those standards. At this time, FNS is seeking 
information from all affected parties regarding State and LEA current 
policies regarding extending credit to children by allowing them to 
``charge'' the cost of school meals on the day of service. 
Specifically, FNS is interested in commenters providing details of 
policies and procedures in their State or LEA and the advantages and 
challenges associated with those procedures.

DATES: To be assured of consideration, written information must be 
submitted or postmarked on or before January 14, 2015.

ADDRESSES: The Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, invites the submission 
of the requested information through one of the following methods:
    <bullet> Preferred method: Submit information through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submissions.
    <bullet> Mail: Submissions should be addressed to Jessica Saracino, 
Program Analyst, School Programs Branch, Child Nutrition Programs, Food 
and Nutrition Service, P.O. Box 66740, Saint Louis, MO 63166-6740.
    All information properly and timely submitted, using one of the two 
methods described above, in response to this request for information 
will be included in the record and will be made available to the public 
on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. Please be advised that 
the substance of the information provided and the identity of the 
individuals or entities submitting it will be subject to public 
disclosure.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Saracino, Program Analyst, 
Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service at (703) 305-2590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 143 of the HHFKA (Pub. L. 111-296; 
December 13, 2010) requires USDA, in conjunction with States and 
participating LEAs, to examine the current policies and practices of 
States and LEAs regarding extending credit to children to pay the cost 
of their reimbursable school lunches and breakfasts. As part of this 
examination, FNS must prepare a report on the feasibility of 
establishing national standards for meal charges and alternate meals 
and provide recommendations for implementing those standards. As 
required by the HHFKA, when creating this report, FNS will take into 
account:
    <bullet> The impact of overt identification on children; that is, 
the potential for children's eligibility or unpaid meal status to 
become apparent to other children, school staff, or others, as result 
of a school's implementation of the implementation of credit 
procedures;
    <bullet> The manner in which the affected households (i.e., those 
which may incur debt) are provided with assistance in establishing 
eligibility for free or reduced price school meals; and
    <bullet> The potential financial impact on LEAs.
    The Special Nutrition Program Operations Study (SN-OPS) is a 
multiyear, nationally representative study designed to provide FNS with 
a snapshot of current State and LEA policies and practices, including 
information on school meal standards, competitive foods standards, 
school lunch pricing and accounting. The information in this first year 
study (School Year 2011-12) provides a baseline for observing the 
improvements resulting from the implementation of the HHFKA. As part of 
this study, FNS examined State and local meal charge policies. This 
study revealed that in School Year 2011-12, LEAs varied in their 
policies for serving meals to students who do not have funds to pay for 
meals. School policies range from denying a meal to serving a 
reimbursable meal or alternate meal to students.\1\ Over 80% of schools 
served a meal to students that were unable to pay, either with 
reimbursable meals, or an alternative meal. Only 3 percent of school 
districts indicated that they did not serve meals at all to students 
who were unable to pay. In terms of revenue, on average, for all the 
LEAs that reported that they lost some revenue as a result of unpaid 
meals, the net revenue lost was less than 1 percent of total 
expenditures for the year. Despite this, for a small number of LEAs 
unpaid meal charges is a significant issue with very large debts 
associated with unpaid charges. For additional information on this 
study, go here: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/SNOPSYear1.pdf. While the SN-OPS study provides good background and a 
starting point for the required report on this issue, FNS would like to 
gather more detailed information on State and local meal charge 
policies and procedures to help inform FNS' recommendation on the 
feasibility of

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establishing a national standard for meal charges and alternate meals 
and best practices guidance. While the FNS study showed that unpaid 
debt is not a systemic issue, for some schools and school districts 
unpaid debt has become a greater problem given other budgetary 
restraints. To assist these schools and school districts, FNS is 
seeking comments, concerns and suggestions on the extent of the 
problems and what has been done across the nation to address this issue 
of maintaining access to meals and also a school food service in strong 
financial standing.
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    \1\ SN-OPS survey results did not provide detailed information 
regarding how schools vary their approach based on the duration of 
unpaid meal status. Among other areas, FNS requests in this RFI 
information regarding how schools modify their approach based on the 
duration of unpaid meal status.
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    FNS' objective is to receive input from a broad spectrum of parties 
that may be affected by policies on a number of topics relating to meal 
charges. These include students and their parents, school district 
officials, school food service staff, State agency officials, and the 
general public. FNS has an interest in working with States and school 
districts to ensure that schools are providing access to healthy meals 
to all children, but are also able to pay for the costs that they 
incur. FNS is particularly interested in learning if there is a 
relationship between a student who is extended ``credit'' and that 
child's eligibility for free and reduced priced meals.
    FNS intends to use the information it receives to prepare a report 
on the feasibility of establishing national standards for meal charges 
and the provision of alternate meals and to provide recommendations for 
implementing those standards, as required by the HHFKA. Information 
submitted to FNS will also help to develop ``Best Practices'' guidance 
for meal charge policies and assist FNS in developing recommendations 
for Congressional review.
    To assist in developing comments, FNS is seeking input regarding 
the following questions. FNS welcomes comments to all questions below.
    1. Does your school district have a written policy on meal charges 
and/or when alternate meals may be provided? If so, please attach your 
policy or a link to a Web site containing the policy to your comment.
    2. Which officials are responsible for developing the policies 
(e.g., school district business officials, the school food service 
director, school principals, etc.)?
    3. Are there any grade level differences; for example, are only 
children below high school allowed to charge meals?
    4. May children who do not have their payment or who have 
outstanding charges/unpaid balance select any reimbursable meal or are 
children offered alternate meals in lieu of the selection of 
reimbursable meals? If alternate meals are offered, what types of foods 
are offered in alternate meals?
    5. Are reimbursable alternate meals available? If so, at what 
eligibility rate is your school district claiming these meals?
    6. Does your school's unpaid meal charge policy include a modified 
approach for handling students based on the duration of unpaid meal 
status, and if so, how?
    7. Are there any consequences outside the meal service for students 
who do not have their meal payment for the day (e.g., the student may 
not participate in extracurricular activities or report cards are not 
released, etc)?
    8. How does the school ensure the children's eligibility status 
does not become apparent to other children or school staff as result of 
the school's implementation of the credit procedures?
    9. Does a child's unpaid meal status become apparent to other 
children or school staff? If so, how? Are there measures you take to 
minimize the chances these children are identified and what do you find 
to be the most (or least) effective strategies?
    10. Is any financial support to the school food service from the 
school district provided to offset costs related to the meal charges 
policy?
    11. How are parents informed of the policies about charging meals, 
limits on charges, low account balances, outstanding balances, and 
methods of payment?
    12. Have outstanding debts increased or decreased in your school 
district over the last 3 school years?
    13. What steps does your school district provide to assist families 
with meal charges to apply for free or reduced price meals?
    14. Are children with outstanding debts mostly those:
    a. Eligible for reduced price meals;
    b. Potentially eligible for free or reduced price but who have not 
applied or been certified; or
    c. Who applied but were not eligible?
    15. How do outstanding meal payments affect the ability of food 
service to meet the meal pattern requirements?
    16. Does your school district have a la carte sales? If so, are 
children allowed to charge these items and how is repayment of any 
charges handled?
    17. If your school district does not have a meal charge policy, how 
does that affect children who do not have their meal payment for the 
day?
    When preparing information in response to this request, please keep 
in mind that FNS is seeking comments within the current statutory 
structure of the school meals programs. For example, while serving all 
meals at no cost to all students would eliminate the need for credit 
policies; this approach would require statutory change as currently, 
schools may only offer all students free meals if they are operating 
under a Special Provision, including the Community Eligibility 
Provision. This approach is beyond the scope of this information 
request. FNS appreciates your thoughtful and responsive comments.

    Dated: October 8, 2014.
Jeffrey J. Tribiano,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-24575 Filed 10-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P