FNS Documents & Resources

This memorandum includes questions and answers for state agencies and local program operators on flexibilities available under the child nutrition programs during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

This memorandum includes questions and answers intended to provide clarification to state agencies and program operators on the operation of the child nutrition programs during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency.

Attached are Questions and Answers (QAs) on the final rule Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements (83 FR 63775, December 12, 2018), which provides menu planning flexibilities in the child nutrition programs beginning July 1, 2019.

School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and the real world circumstances of America’s schools. 

This memorandum provides guidance to states, local operators, and their software vendors on strategies for leveraging the design flexibilities of online free and reduced price school meal applications to reduce household reporting mistakes and certification errors.

This memorandum provides guidance on meals served to preschoolers when they are in the same service area at the same time as grade K-5 students, and it includes Questions and Answers. Additional guidance on the National School Lunch Program’s and School Breakfast Program’s infant and preschool meal pattern requirements will be issued soon.

The manual provides comprehensive information on federal requirements, policies, and procedures, and is intended to help state agencies and local educational agencies accurately determine, certify, and verify children’s eligibility for free and reduced price school meals and free milk.

This Question and Answer memorandum is designed to provide practical guidance related to accommodating disabilities in the school meal programs, which are the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, the Special Milk Program, and the NSLP Afterschool Snacks Program.

Local educational agencies participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program are required to develop a local school wellness policy that promotes the health of students and addresses the problem of childhood obesity.

This question and answer memorandum is designed to provide an overview of policies related to unpaid meal charges and to address common questions the Food and Nutrition Service has received from state agencies, school food authorities, and local program operators.