The Cobb County School District (District) has entered into agreement to participate in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, and to receive commodities donated by the United States Department of Agriculture,. The District provides free and reduced price meals to eligible children in the schools under its jurisdiction.

RULE:

The District implements the following Rule with respect to determining the eligibility of children for free and reduced price meals in all National School Lunch Program, National School Breakfast Program and commodity-only schools under its jurisdiction.

A. FREE AND REDUCED PRICE MEALS:
    1. In providing free and reduced price meals, the District:
        a. Serves meals free to children from families whose income is at or below that listed
            in the Eligibility Scale.
        b. Serves meals at the reduced price annually recommended by USDA to children from
           families whose income is at or below that listed in the Eligibility Scale.
        c. Provides these benefits to children from families experiencing unemployment which
           causes the family income to fall within the criteria specified in the Eligibility Scale.
        d. Mandates that there will be no physical segregation of, or any other discrimination
            against, any student because of inability to pay the full price of the meal:
            (1) The names of students eligible to receive free or reduced price meals shall not
                  be published, posted or announced in any manner and there shall be no overt
                  identification of any such student by use of special tokens or tickets or by any
                  other means.
            (2) Students eligible for free or reduced price meals shall not be required to:
                 (a) Work for their meals,
                 (b) Use a separate dining room or separate area of the dining room,
                 (c) Go through a separate serving line,
                 (d) Enter the dining room through a separate entrance,
                 (e) Eat lunch or breakfast at a different time, or
                 (f) Eat a different meal from the meal sold to children paying the full price.
        e. Mandates that in the operation of child nutrition programs, no child shall be
            discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex or
            handicap, and
        f. Will establish and use a fair hearing procedure in cases of appeal by
           parents/guardians of the school's decisions on applications and for school officials'
           challenges to the correctness of information contained in an application or of the
           continued eligibility of any students for free or reduced price meals.
           (1) During the appeal and hearing, the student will continue to receive free or
                reduced price meals.
           (2) Prior to initiating the hearing procedure, the parent/guardian or local school
                official may request a conference to provide an opportunity for the
                parent/guardian and school official to discuss the situation, present information,
                and obtain an explanation of data submitted in the application and decisions
                rendered. Such a conference shall not in any way prejudice or diminish the right
                to a fair hearing.
           (3) The hearing procedure shall provide:
                (a) A publicly-announced, simple method for making an oral or written request
                     for a hearing,
                (b) An opportunity to be assisted or represented by an attorney or other
                     person,
                (c) An opportunity to examine, prior to and during the hearing, the documents
                    and records presented to support the decision under appeal,
                (d) That the hearing shall be held with reasonable promptness and convenience
                     and that adequate notice shall be given as to the time and place of the
                     hearing,
                (e) An opportunity to present oral or documentary evidence and arguments
                     supporting a position without undue interference,
                (f) An opportunity to question or refute any testimony or other evidence and
                    confront and to cross-examine any adverse witness,
                (g) That the hearing shall be conducted and the decision made by a hearing
                     official who did not participate in the decision under appeal or any previous
                     conference,
                (h) That the decision of the hearing official shall be based on the oral and
                     documentary evidence presented at the hearing and made a part of the
                     hearing record,
                (i) That the parties concerned and any designated representative thereof shall
                     be notified in writing of the decision of the hearing official,
                (j) That a written record shall be prepared with respect to each hearing. This
                     record shall include the decision under appeal, any documentary evidence
                     and a summary of any oral testimony presented at the hearing, the decision
                     of the hearing official including the reasons therefore, and a copy of the
                     notification to the parties concerned of the hearing official's decision, and
                (k) That such written record of each hearing shall be preserved for a period of
                     three years after the end of the fiscal year to which it pertains and shall be
                     available for examination by the parties concerned or their representative at
                     any reasonable time and place during such period.
        g. Designates the Regulations Coordinator to review applications and make
            determinations of eligibility. This official will use the criteria outlined in this Rule to
            determine which individual students are eligible for free or reduced price meals.
        h. Will develop and send to each student’s parent/guardian a letter, including an
            application form for free and reduced price meals at the beginning of each school
            year, unless specifically exempted from doing so:
            (1) Parents/guardians will be requested to complete the application and return it to
                 the determining official (named in “g” above) for review.
            (2) Such applications and documentation of action taken will be maintained for
                 three years after the fiscal year to which they pertain or according to the
                 District’s records retention schedule, whichever is longer.
            (3) If the audit findings have not been resolved, the records shall be retained
                 beyond the three-year period as long as required for the resolution of issues
                 raised by the audit.
            (4) Applications may be filed at any time during the year and any parent/guardian
                 enrolling a student in a school for the first time, at any time during the year,
                 shall be supplied with such documents.
            (5) If a student transfers from one school to another within the District, his/her
                 eligibility for a free or reduced price meal will be transferred to and honored by
                 the receiving school.
            (6) All students from a household will receive the same benefits based on income
                 information; however, categorical eligibility may be different for individual
                 students.
            (7) Students will be served meals immediately upon the establishment of their
                 eligibility.
            (8) When an application is rejected, parents/guardians will be informed of the
                 reason for denial and of the hearing procedure. The designated hearing official
                 is the Executive Director of Auxiliary Services, 6975 Cobb International
                 Boulevard, Kennesaw, Georgia, 30152.
        i. Provides to local grassroots organizations and any major employers contemplating or
           experiencing large layoffs, a public release containing the same information outlined
           in the parent/guardian letter at the beginning of the school year. In addition, the
           District will provide a public release to all newspapers in the area.
        j. Will establish a procedure to collect money from students who pay for their meals
           and to account for the number of free, reduced-price and full-price meals. The
           procedure referenced in the Meal Accountability Procedures will be used so that no
           other student in the school will consciously be made aware, by such procedure, of
           the identity of the students receiving reduced price or free meals.
        k. Will submit to the Georgia Department of Education any alteration or amendments
           to policy, including eligibility criteria, applications, public announcements, collection
           procedures, etc., for approval prior to implementation. Such changes will be
           effective only upon approval. Any changes in eligibility criteria must be publicly
           announced in the same manner used in the beginning of the school year.
        l. Verifies in accordance with program regulations and maintain records as follows:
           (1) By November 15, by random sample or by focused sample, a number of
                approved applications on file on October 1, using the following procedures:
                (a) Randomly select at a minimum 3 percent or 3000 whichever is less of the
                     number of applications approved for free and reduced price meals that are
                     on file on October 1 or from applications approved based on income and
                     claiming monthly income within $100.00 or yearly income within $1,200 of
                     the eligibility limit for free or reduced-price meals, one percent; plus 0.5
                     percent of food stamp households whose applications provided food stamp
                     case numbers in lieu of income information.
                (b) Mail to parents/guardians of selected students written notification of their
                     selection, which includes acceptable sources of income documentation.
                (c) If documentation does not support the present approved category, mail
                     parents/guardians an Adverse Action letter outlining change in status and
                     date of change (10 days from date of letter).
                (d) If no response to notification letter, send Adverse Action letter indicating no
                     response, and change of status to “denied” (10 days from date of letter)
                     because of no response.
                (e) Provide a discussion and/or hearing (using procedures previously outlined) if
                     requested by parents/guardians.
                (f) If no response is received to the second letter within ten days, immediately
                    terminate the eligibility for all students in the household.
                (g) Maintain "School Verification Record of Action."
           (2) Complete "School Summary of Verification Efforts" by November 15 and submit
                to system office. Maintain "School Verification Record of Action," to support the
                summary.
           (3) Complete Verification Reporting and submit to area school nutrition consultant.
           (4) Maintain a file of all documentation used in verification, including copies of all
                letters sent to each parent/guardian along with copies of income documentation
                supplied by parents/guardians and documentation of current food stamp or
                AFDC eligibility.
        m. Implements accountability requirements as spelled out by the United States
            Department of Agriculture in 7CFR210.8 to include, at a minimum:
            (1) Developing and implementing meal accountability procedures.
            (2) Performing monthly edits of all school claims for reimbursement.
            (3) Monitoring meal accountability procedures during an annual review of each
                 school.
        n. Assigns to School Nutrition Program personnel primary responsibilities for the
            following functions:
            (1) Collecting cash for meals served to students.
            (2) Counting meals served for the purpose of filing reimbursement claims.
            (3) Processing applications for approval and denial of free and reduced-price meals.
            (4) Maintaining a current student eligibility list.
            (5) Verifying free and reduced-price meal applications.

B. FORMS AND DOCUMENTS:
Forms and documents issued by the Division of School Food and Nutrition for the implementation of this Rule are in accordance with the policies, rules and regulations of the Georgia Department of Education and the United States Department of Agriculture and are considered an extension of this Rule.

Reclassified an Administrative Rule: 9/1/04
Revised: 9/13/89; 9/27/90; 8/14/91; 11/10/93; 9/7/05