Georgia announces 2017-18 Free and Reduced-Price Meal Income Guidelines

The Georgia Department of Education announces its policy for free and reduced-price meals for children unable to pay the full price served in schools under the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program. Local school officials have adopted the following family size and income criteria for determining eligibility. FOR EACH ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBER, ADD $5,434 PER YEAR TO THE INCOME LEVEL FOR FREE MEALS AND $7,733 TO THE INCOME LEVEL FOR REDUCED PRICE MEALS.

The reduced price breakfast costs no more than 30 cents and the reduced price lunch costs no more than 40 cents.

Application forms are being sent to all homes with a letter to parents or guardians. To apply for free or reduced-price meals, households should fill out the application and return it to the school. Children from families whose income is at or below the levels shown are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Foster children may also be eligible for these meals. Families with foster children should contact the school for information regarding benefits. Additional forms are available at the principal’s office in each school. The information provided on the application will be used for the purpose of determining eligibility and may be verified at any time with each school district required to verify a sample annually. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year.

For school officials to determine eligibility, households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) must list the child’s name, their SNAP or TANF case number and the signature of an adult household member. Households not receiving SNAP or TANF must list: child’s name, names of all household members, the last four digits of the social security number of a parent or guardian (or an indication that neither possesses a social security number), the amount of income received by each household member, identified by source and frequency, and the signature of an adult household member certifying that the information provided is correct. The information provided by the household is confidential and will be used for the purpose of determining eligibility and verifying data. We may inform officials connected with other child nutrition, health, and education programs of the information on your form to determine benefits for those programs or for funding and/or evaluation purposes.

If a household member becomes unemployed, or if the household size increases, the household should contact the school. Such changes may make the children of the household eligible for benefits if the household’s income falls at or below the levels shown above.

Under the provisions of this policy, a school official will review applications and determine eligibility. If a parent is dissatisfied with the determination, he/ she may contact the school either orally or in writing.