Understanding WCPSS's Participation in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs

The National School Lunch Program and its offshoots are part of the United States Department of Agriculture, administered statewide by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and locally by our Child Nutrition Services (CNS) department. The USDA establishes guidelines for determining eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch or breakfast based on the parents' or guardians' income levels.

All families are given the opportunity to apply for free and reduced-price meals; a letter to households includes income eligibility requirements. USDA regulations do not require proof of income with the application form. One fourth of eligible students are "direct certified" through the Wake County Department of Human Services and do not need to apply.

CNS retains documentation for five years (rather than the USDA-minimum three years) and follows the USDA process for reviewing families' eligibility, focusing on a three-percent sample of family applications with household incomes within $1,200 of the annual eligibility limit. WCPSS may also pull additional applications to verify "for cause," if there has been a reported suspicion of false information. The verification process is rigorous, and if families fail to respond or are unable to support their income status they are removed from eligibility. The three-percent sample is not representative of the entire number of students approved for free or reduced-price meals because the range within $1,200 of the eligibility limit is the most prone to errors.

The North Carolina Department of Instruction reviews CNS's application and verification processes annually and conducts an extensive audit every five years.

For more details, read the full report.