National School Lunch Program

In Rhode Island, the National School Lunch Program provides nutritious, low-cost or no-cost lunches to over 65,000 children daily. Schools that take part in the lunch program get cash subsidies and donated foods from USDA.

Participating program Sponsors include all public schools, state schools and charter schools, and some private schools, special needs citizen centers, and residential child care institutions.

State law mandates that all public schools provide lunch through the National School Lunch Program.

Children from families with income:

• Up to 130% of poverty level are eligible for free meals.
• Between 130 to 185% of poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals ($.40 or less).
• Over 185% of poverty pay a price determined by the school or institution for their subsidized meal.

58% of the lunches served in Rhode Island are served free or at the reduced price.

For additional program information contact:

RIDE Hosted Webinars & Trainings

Eligibility Determinations, Verification, & Special Provisions:

• Meal Benefit Eligibility Determinations
• Community Eligibility Provision CEP Webinar-2024

Meal Pattern:

Resource Management:

• SNP Resource Management Training
• Unpaid Meals Policies *Note: Webinar begins after 1 minute and 40 seconds in to the video
• Non-Program Revenue in NSLP

Procurement, Food Service Management Companies (FSMCs), and USDA Foods:

• SNP General Procurement Training
• School Nutrition Programs Procurement Review Training
• FSMC vs. Vended Meals Contracts
• SNP Procurement Training - Evaluating FSMC Proposals
• SNP FSMC Monitoring & Procurement Training
• FSMC Monitoring Form Section 1 Training - Menus & Service (Video)
• FSMC Monitoring Form Section 2 Training - USDA Donated Foods (Video)
• FSMC Monitoring Form Section 3 Training - Financial Accountability (Video)
• FSMC Monitoring Form Section 4 Training - Sanitation & Safety (Video)
• FSMC Monitoring Form Section 5 Training - Other Contractual Requirements (Video)
• FSMC Monitoring Form Section 6 Training - Procurement Requirements (Video)
• SNP USDA Foods Training

Civil Rights:

General Program Requirements:

• SNP General Requirements
• Wellness Policy Requirements
• RIHSC Wellness Policy Training
• SNP Meal Counting and Claiming Training
• SNP Reporting and Record Keeping Training
• SNP Self-Monitoring Training
• SNP Professional Standards Training
• RI Recycling Project
• Farm to School Training
• ​Seamless Summer Option - Submitting a Claim for Reimbursement Webinar
  • SSO Claiming - Power Point Slides Only

  FFVP:

  • FFVP Sponsor Training
  • URI SNAP-Ed FFVP Resources
  Resource Library

  Welcome to the National School Lunch Program Resource Library. This section includes documents and links from a variety of sources related to the School Nutrition Programs. To review RIDE-provided training recordings, visit the "RIDE Recorded Trainings & Webinars" section of this page.

  Meal Benefit and Eligibility Information

  This Toolkit has been developed to provide strategies to improve outreach and communication to families that may qualify for school meal benefits: School Meals Outreach Toolkit

  For more information on school meal benefit applications, including a list of schools accepting electronic applications, visit the Free or Reduced-Price School Meals Application section of the website.

  Current Program Operators - for the most current meal benefit application materials and reimbursements rates, check out the Download Forms section of CNP Connect.

  Professional Development Resources

  • USDA Professional Standards for School Nutrition Staff website
  • Institute for Child Nutrition training resources
  • Culinary Institute for Child Nutrition culinary training resources

  Partners in School Nutrition Innovation & Success

  • RI Farm and Sea to School Network - check out what Farm to School can offer your school!
  • Rhode Island Healthy Schools Coalition website
  • RI Schools Recycling Project website
  • USDA Team Nutrition FREE Resource Library
  • Alliance for a Healthier Generation website
  • New England Dairy & Food Council - Supports and partners with RI schools to ensure that students have access to the healthy foods and physical activity they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
  • Fuel Up to Play is the in-school nutrition & physical activity program launched by National Dairy Council and National Football League
  Community Eligibility Provision

  The new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) makes it easier for all children in low-income communities have access to healthy meals at school. CEP allows schools in high poverty areas to offer nutritious meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to all students at no change while eliminating school meal applications. Contact Jennifer Goodwin for additional information on CEP in RI.

  The CEP Fact Sheet provides an overview of the Community Eligibility Program.

  Here is the of listing of:

  • 2024-2025 RI Schools Eligible for CEP
  • 2023-2024 RI Schools Eligible for CEP
  • 2022-2023 RI Schools Eligible for CEP
  • 2021-2022 RI Schools Eligible for CEP
  • 2020-2021 RI Schools Eligible for CEP
  • 2019-2020 RI Schools Eligible for CEP

  A CEP Reimbursement Estimator tool, which can be found on the USDA's CEP website, allows schools that are considering the Community Eligibility Provision to calculate their estimated federal reimbursement they will receive. This will help assess the financial viability of their school meal program under CEP. This calculator is updated annually, so be sure to download the most current version.

  Districts newly interested in participating in the CEP must demonstrate eligibility and complete the required paper between April-June of each school year for the CEP participation beginning in fall of the following school year.

  Districts/schools that have elected to participate in CEP for at least one site must notify households of children attending the CEP school(s) of CEP participation. LEAs can find sample CEP communications in the "Download Forms" section of CNP Connect.

  Additionally, while schools participating in CEP cannot collect meal benefit applications from households, they may choose to collect household income information through an alternate income survey. These surveys are not required and cannot be in any way tied to or funded by the school meals program. However, schools may choose to collect these surveys to support funding for other programs. For school year 2023-2024 and beyond, these forms may be particularly important to families as they will be used to determine eligibility for the new Summer EBT program. LEAs can find a sample "Education Benefit and SEBT Application" in the "Download Forms" section of CNP Connect.

  E-Rate guidance has been issued by both USDA and the Federal Communications Commission. It provides information on newly adopted rules for the E-rate program, including how school districts with CEP schools should calculate their discount rates beginning in School Year 2015 2016.

  US Department of Education has issued guidance on Title I and CEP.

  Procurement & Food Service Management Companies (FSMCs)

  Procurement in the Child Nutrition Programs

  Procurement is defined as a multistep process for obtaining goods and services at the lowest possible price. The steps in this process include planning, writing specifications, announcing/advertising the procurement, awarding a contract, and managing the contract. Procurement standards for the federally funded child nutrition programs (CNPs) are located in 2 CFR, sections 200.318–200.326 and 7 CFR, parts 210, 225, 226, and 250 (as applicable).

  USDA Procurement Guidance

  • 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards
  • 7 CFR Part 250 USDA Management of Donated Foods
  • 7 CFR Part 210 Procurement Requirements for the National School Lunch Program
  • 7 CFR Part 215 Procurement Requirements for the School Breakfast Program
  • 7 CFR Part 220 Procurement Requirements for the Special Milk Program
  • USDA Contracting with Food Service management Companies: Guidance for School Food Authorities
  • Guidance on Competitive Procurement Standards for Program Operators

  RIDE Procurement Guidance & Training

  • School Nutrition Programs Procurement Overview Training (Video)
  • School Nutrition Programs Procurement Review Training (Video)
  • Sample School Nutrition Programs Procurement Policy (Word Document)
  • School Nutrition Programs Procurement Training - Evaluating Food Service Management Company (FSMC) Proposals (Video)

  RIDE Pre-Approved Equipment List for the School Nutrition Programs

  Based on USDA guidance and Federal regulation, RIDE has required SFAs purchasing equipment that will be used to support the operations of the School Nutrition Programs (SNPs) and which will be funded in whole or in part by funds from the non-profit school foodservice account to obtain approval from RIDE prior to making any such purchases.

  Recognizing the administrative burden created by requiring pre-approval for routine equipment purchases in the SNPs, the USDA has granted State Agencies with an approved equipment list permission to allow SFAs to purchase approved items, following competitive Federal, State, or local procurement procedures, as applicable, without submitting a request to the State Agency for approval.

  The following procedure outlines the allowable use of RIDE’s pre-approved equipment list to streamline the approval process for equipment purchases to support the School Nutrition Programs.

  • Equipment Purchases in the National School Lunch Program - Policy & Procedures (PDF)

  Food Service Management Company (FSMC) Contracts & Monitoring

  School Food Authorities (SFAs) that enter into a contract for the management of their food service programs must conduct performance management of the Food Service Management Company (FSMC) contract through periodic on-site monitoring of the contractual requirements, as per 7 CFR 210.16(a)(3). RIDE has broken down the contractual monitoring requirements into six (6) individual sections with additional instructions on how to measure compliance for each question; these monitoring forms and supporting training videos can be found below, along with a video designed to help SFAs determine which type of services (FSMC or vended meals) that they may want to solicit for.

  Note: the "FSMC Monitoring Form - Section 6" is specific to the FSMC procurement process and should be completed and submitted to RIDE as part of the formal FSMC procurement process prior to fully executing an agreement with the selected vendor.

  General Training Videos

  • FSMC vs. Vended Meals Contracts (Video)

  Monitoring Training Videos

  • FSMC Monitoring Form Section 1 Training - Menus & Service (Video)
  • FSMC Monitoring Form Section 2 Training - USDA Donated Foods (Video)
  • FSMC Monitoring Form Section 3 Training - Financial Accountability (Video)
  • FSMC Monitoring Form Section 4 Training - Sanitation & Safety (Video)
  • FSMC Monitoring Form Section 5 Training - Other Contractual Requirements (Video)
  • FSMC Monitoring Form Section 6 Training - Procurement Requirements (Video)