Severe
Need reimbursement provides additional funds for each breakfast served to free
or reduced eligible students attending schools that served at least 40% of
lunches at the free or reduced rate during the second preceding year if the
school is approved by the state agency.
The school year (SY) 2022-2023 severe need breakfast reimbursement
rates are $0.41 higher for each free and reduced-price meal served over the
standard reimbursement rate.
REQUIREMENTS: To qualify for the severe need breakfast
reimbursement EACH SCHOOL (not school district) must meet the following
criteria:
1. The school is currently participating in or desires to
begin a breakfast program.
2. Forty percent (40%) or more of the lunches served to
students in SY 2020-2021 were at free or reduced price.
In Arkansas, all districts operated
the Seamless Summer Option (SSO), not the National School Lunch Program (NSLP),
during SY 2020-2021 allowing all students to eat at the free rate. Free and reduced meal data to qualify for
severe need reimbursement is not available when administering SSO. As a result, the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has provided the guidelines below to determine eligibility
for severe need reimbursement for SY 2022-2023:
Use the percentage of lunches served free or at the reduced
price during SY 2019-2020. Data should only be used for months the school
served free and reduced price NSLP meals.
The last day of regular meal service for most Arkansas schools was
approximately March 17, 2020, when Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson mandated
school closures due the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instructions:
- Submit ALL meal count summary reports by school (not district) for each month the district served NSLP in SY 2019-2020.
- The monthly meal count summaries should reflect meals from the first day NSLP meals were served through the last day meals were served before the COVID-19 shutdown.
- The monthly meal count summaries must match the total number of meals reported on the severe need application and the number of meals submitted on monthly claims for reimbursement.If the district had adjustment to meal counts due to Administrative Reviews, Audits, or claim revisions, the district must account for those changes and submit the supporting documentation for the adjustments.
- If the district does not have data for SY 2019 – 2020, please contact Donna Ratliff at 501-324-9502.
The application
deadline is September 9, 2022. THIS A
HARD DEADLINE. LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED OR PROCESSED.
Signed applications and meal count summary reports can be
scanned and emailed to: ADE.Severeneed@ade.arkansas.gov
COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY SCHOOLS:
Severe need eligibility is based on site-level data. If the
school operated under Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) during SY
2019-2020, the individual school’s Identified Student Percentage (ISP) must be
used to determine eligibility for severe need reimbursement. Therefore, the
individual school’s ISP from SY 2019-2020 multiplied by 1.6 must be at least 40
percent to qualify for severe need reimbursement.
Schools
participating in CEP as part of a group may not use the group free claiming
percentage.
** For additional
information see the “Community
Eligibility Provision: Planning and Implementation Guidance” page 45,
located under Guidance on the Child Nutrition Unit website. **
PROVISION 2 SCHOOLS:
Severe Need eligibility is based on site-level data. If the
school operated under Provision 2 during SY 2019-2020, the lunch meals served
at that school, and at the free and reduced rate, must be 40% in order for the
school to be eligible.
Record Retention:
Districts are reminded to maintain all documentation at the
district level to justify student eligibility status, including meal benefit
applications and categorically eligible lists (direct certification, homeless,
runaway, migrant, etc.) for a period of 5 years after the last claim is filed
based on those eligibility determinations.