All Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) who
participate in programs authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act must report the percentage of students eligible to receive meals at
no charge to the family through direct certification or categorical lists. LEAs
are required to provide this information through Identified Student Percentage
(ISP) reporting.
Identified Students: Identified Students
are students certified for free meals based on categorical eligibility,
including students who are directly certified for free meals based on receiving
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), students who are
categorically eligible for free meals based on Homeless, Runaway, Migrant,
Foster, Head Start, and Even Start status. This includes students from
Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12.
students
who are eligible based on submission of a SNAP meal application or income
application.
The following documents should be available
before beginning the completion of the report.
- Direct Certification (DC) lists for 2020 – 2021 school year. DC lists were made available on August 12, 2020; September 14, 2020; January 12, 2021. A final DC list will be available April 1, 2021. LEAs are required to use at least three of these pulls to update eSchool student eligibility status.
- Categorical lists pulled on or before April 1, 2021. Each list should be signed and dated by the district liaison for the designated group: Homeless, Migrant, Foster, Runaway, Head Start or Even Start. This is documentation of a student’s status as of April 1, 2021.
- Cognos Meal Status Report for a specific date (April 1, 2021).
- School Enrollment Roster pulled April 1, 2021.
- Cognos Family Address List (This report is not required but is beneficial when determining students who live in the same household.)
- Instant Matches from the DC portal dated April 1, 2021 or earlier.
- Any other documentation that allows a student not on the DC list to be classified as “04” in the meal status report.
April 15th Notification and Data Collection:
To complete the required reports, each LEA must
use:
- District-level eligibility data provided to LEAs by Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Child Nutrition Unit (DESE,CNU), and
- School-Level eligibility data provided to DESE, CNU by LEAs
Reporting of Identified Students by School:
Attachment A – 2021 ISP
District Notification Report provides the LEA the district-wide percentage
of Identified Students based on FNS-742 Verification Collection Report and the
FNS-834 State Agency (National School Lunch Program (NSLP) / Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Direct Certification Rate Data Element
Report, submitted by LEAs during SY 2020-21. This information indicates
identified students for October 1, 2020. This information is for district
comparison only.
Attachment B - 2021 ISP
School Level Annual Notification Report must be submitted to DESE, CNU no later than April
15, 2021. Please read the instructions tab as well as the instructions on the
top of the form carefully.
Email the completed report to DESE, CNU at ade.chnutcep@ade.arkansas.gov.
By May 1, 2021, DESE, CNU is required to
publish the lists of LEAs and schools who are eligible or near-eligible for the
Community Eligible Provision (CEP) on the CNU website and submit these lists to
the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for publication on USDA FNS’ CEP
website.
Attachment:
A – 2021 ISP District Notification Report
B – 2021 ISP School Level Annual Notification
Report