Memo Text
The
purpose of this memo is to provide guidance for paid lunch pricing in Child
Nutrition Programs for the 2021-22 school year.
The Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) tool is used to determine the weighted
average price of a paid lunch or the amount of non- federal funds that must be
put into the non-profit food service account.
Under
Section 767, of Division A of the Appropriations Act, for school year
2021-2022, only a School Food Authority (SFA) having a negative balance in the
nonprofit school food service account as of December 31, 2020, will be required
to complete the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) PLE Tool. School districts with a zero or positive
balance are exempt from this requirement but need to retain the APSCN Detailed
Revenue Report for period 6/21 (December) showing the balance.
All SFAs are encouraged to complete the PLE
Tool and establish a paid lunch price as a future reference. However, SFAs opting into Child Nutrition
Waiver # 85 to operate the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) during the 21-22 school
year, serving all students at no cost, are not required to do so.
Complete the enclosed FORM to
record the district’s PLE status. If
your balance is negative, complete the attached PLE Tool and return both
documents to ADE.CNU-A-PS@ade.arkansas.gov.
If your program has a zero or positive balance, retain
copies of all documents in the district for Child Nutrition Administrative
Review and audit purposes.
If you have questions, contact your Area Specialist at
501-324-9502.