School Meals

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act provides an additional 6-cents per lunch reimbursement to school districts that certified to be in compliance with the new meal patterns. The increased reimbursement, a significant investment in improving the quality of school meals, are provided to school districts once they meet the new meal patterns published in the final rule on January 26, 2012. Funding became available to school districts starting October 1, 2012.

Regulation

• Final Rule: Certification of Compliance With Meal Requirements for the National School Lunch Program Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (1/2/14)

Policy Memos

• SP 44-2012: Questions and Answers Related to 6 Cents Certification Tool (revision)
• SP 34-2012 (Revised) Certification of Compliance with New Meal Patterns, SY 2014-15 Prototype Attestation Statement, SY 2014-15 Lunch Menu Worksheet Instructions, SY 2014-15 Breakfast Menu Worksheet Instructions, SY 2014-15 Simplified Nutrient Assessment Instructions for Lunch, SY 2014-15 Simplified Nutrient Assessment Instructions for Breakfast, Instructions for Transferring Data from USDA Certification Tools, Certification Meal Pattern Requirement Specification
  • 3-Day Schedule Certification Worksheets (updated for SY 2016-17)
  • 4-Day Schedule Certification Worksheet (updated for SY 2016-17)
  • 5-Day Schedule Certification Worksheets (updated for SY 2016-17)
  • 6-Day Schedule Certification Worksheets (updated for SY 2016-17)
  • 7-Day Schedule Certification Worksheets (updated for SY 2016-17)
  • Extended Schedule Certification Worksheets
• SP 26-2014: New Q&As Related to the Certification of Compliance with Meal Requirements for the NSLP (The SP 26-2014 set of questions and answers supersede SP 31-2012. However, SP 31-2012 questions and answers will remain available for reference on the FNS web site.)

Technical Assistance and Guidance Materials

• Tools for Schools
• Nutrition Standards in School Meals
• 6 Cents Certification Worksheet Demonstration Series
  (New School Meal Pattern Requirements and Nutrition Standards)
  • Section 1 - Meal Patterns
  • Section 2 - Overview
  • Section 3 - Tool - All Meals tab
  • Section 4 - Tool - Vegetable Bar tab
  • Section 5 - Tool - Daily tabs
  • Section 6 - Tool - Weekly Report
  • Section 7 - Tool - Simplified Nutrient Assessment
  • Section 8 - 6 Cent Certification
• Menu Planning Tools Approved for Certification for Six Cent Reimbursement (Certification of Compliance/Menu Planning)
  • List of Menu Planning Tools Approved for Certification for Six Cent Reimbursement
  • Support Materials for Developers with Certification of Compliance Software or Tools
• Presentation: Certification of Compliance with New Meal Pattern Requirements
• Performance Based Certification: Prototype Performance Work Statement, Performance Metrics, Evaluation Factors and Market Research Questionnaire
• School Meal Certification Data