An Opportunity for School Districts
Are there
hungry kids in your district when school is out? It’s now even
easier to feed those kids! You can apply to operate the Seamless
Summer Option in the National School Lunch Program or School
Breakfast Program.
What is it?
The Seamless
Summer Option combines features of the National School Lunch
Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Summer Food
Service Program (SFSP). This option reduces paperwork and
administrative burden, making it easier for schools to feed
children from low-income areas during the traditional summer
vacation periods and, for year-round schools, long school
vacation periods (generally periods of 2-3 weeks).
Why Should
Schools Do This?
-
Your
community needs it – kids still need good food, even when
school is out.
-
It’s easy
– continue the same meal service rules and claiming procedures
used during the regular school year.
-
There’s
reduced paperwork and monitoring rules, compared to running
different child nutrition programs at the same time.
-
Although
the traditional SFSP is still available to schools, the
Seamless Summer Option offers a streamlined approach to
feeding hungry children in your community.
How Does it
Work?
School
districts participating in the NSLP or SBP are eligible to apply
for the Seamless Summer Option. Once approved through their
governing State agency, school districts serve meals free of
charge to children, 18 years and under, from low-income areas.
The same NSLP and SBP rules apply for meal service. Meals
served are reimbursed at the NSLP and/or SBP “free” rates.
The types of sites allowed to participate in this option include:
-
Open
sites:
all
children eat free in communities where at least 50% of the
children are eligible for free/reduced price school meals.
-
Restricted
open sites:
sites that meet the open site criteria, explained above, but
are later restricted for safety,
control, or security reasons.
-
Closed
enrolled sites:
may
be in any community for an enrolled group of low-income
children and meets the 50% criteria explained above. This
excludes academic summer schools.
-
Migrant
sites:
serving
children of migrant families.
-
Camps:
residential or non-residential camps.
Want to Know
More?
Review the
FY 2007 Seamless Summer Option Question and Answer Guidance
or contact your
NSLP State agency for more
information on how to apply for the Seamless Summer Option.