FNS Documents & Resources

Through the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2018, Congress provides that only school food authorities  that had a negative balance in the nonprofit school food service account as of Jan. 31, 2018, shall be required to establish prices for paid lunches according to the Paid Lunch Equity provisions in  the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, and implemented in National School Lunch Program regulations.

This memorandum provides guidance to states, local operators, and their software vendors on strategies for leveraging the design flexibilities of online free and reduced price school meal applications to reduce household reporting mistakes and certification errors.

This memorandum provides a reminder overview of options available under current program policy and regulation for connecting children and adult survivors, who have evacuated from areas subject to major disaster and emergency declarations, and may be staying in shelters, with child nutrition program benefits.

This memorandum provides guidance to state distributing agencies and recipient agencies on the use of market basket analysis in procuring processed end products for USDA Foods in Schools and commercial goods for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program. 

This memo provides SY 2016-17 reporting guidance for the FNS-640 report. The FNS-640 report form is scheduled to be available in the Food Programs Reporting System in January 2018. The attached revised instructions and business rules/edit checks supersede the instructions that were released with memorandum SP 25-2017, FNS-640: Administrative Review Report Form and Instructions.

This memorandum provides the SY 2016-2017 SFA-3 with revised instructions that provide additional information and clarifications to the previously released form’s instructions. The revised instructions will assist with the completion of the FNS-640 report that is due on March 1, 2018.

Attached is the 2017 Edition of Accommodating Children with Disabilities in the School Meal Programs. This guide provides guidance on the requirement for school food authorities to ensure equal access to Program benefits for children with disabilities, which includes providing special meals to children with a disability that restricts their diet.

The manual provides comprehensive information on federal requirements, policies, and procedures, and is intended to help state agencies and local educational agencies accurately determine, certify, and verify children’s eligibility for free and reduced price school meals and free milk.

This memorandum replaces SP 24-2016, Compliance with and Enforcement of the Buy American Provision in the National School Lunch Program. It provides several updates, including suggested contract language to be utilized in solicitations, and serves to reinforce the importance of the Buy American provision to our economy and its positive effects on small and local businesses.

This memorandum addresses questions recently raised by state agencies regarding the FNS requirement to apply fiscal action school food authority-wide and assists state agencies in completing administrative reviews of SFAs in school year 2016-17.