Provision III differs from Provision II in two ways. First, it is implemented for four years and can be extended at four year intervals. In addition, the first year, the base year, is used to determine the amount of federal revenues the school can collect each successive year. Under this provision, the claiming percentage does not change from month to month. Rather, schools receive the same total reimbursement in successive years adjusted for changes in enrollment and the reimbursement rates.
Regulations are pending.
Benefits and Risks Schools using Provisions II and III consider them management tools that allow them to spend resources on the actual costs of providing meals instead of spending them on the cost of added paperwork. Provisions II and III are also popular tools for eliminating stigma at the point of service by eliminating the need to determine every year which students are low-income. This increases student participation and, therefore, federal reimbursements. An alternative to avoid stigma at the point of service is not to charge higher-income students for meals. There is no requirement that schools charge for meals.