If you do NOT participate in the USDA Food Program, then you can bypass this topic.
The Food Program Definitions allow you to define USDA Food Program rules that are specific to your state. SchoolLeader offers an easy method to count and report meals served, either automatically if using Checkpoint or manually through the Student Folder.
To setup or access the USDA Food Program Rules, click on School, then Meal Management, then Definitions. (There is no corresponding icon on the top tool bar for this function).
You must have proper authority to the SCHOOL functions in order to access/change data on these windows.
Please note that USDA Food Program rules and regulations are administered by your state government. You will need to contact them for rules specific for your state regulations.
Let's start setting up the Food Program Rules. The first thing you need to do is define your Meal Subsidy Types.
This designator is used when creating your Income Eligibility Schedule. This is simply a description you will use to help make the schedule clearer to you when reading it. The actual terms you use (Free, Reduced, etc.) are no critical to the process functioning properly.
To access this window; From the Main menu, click SCHOOL, then FOOD PROGRAM SETUP, then EDIT INCOME ELIGIBILITY SCHEDULE..
The next thing you need to define is your Income Eligibility Thresholds. SchoolLeader comes preloaded with the current Federal Income Eligibility Requirements, however, these numbers can change from year-to-year and state-to-state, and will need to be updated by you.
To access this window; From the Main menu, click SCHOOL, then FOOD PROGRAM SETUP, then EDIT INCOME ELIGIBILITY SCHEDULE..
The Meal Subsidy Category in this Income Eligibility Window was defined by you in the first step of this process. Simply choose the Meal Subsidy Category that applies to the Income Level you have defined.
Now let's define your age categories for your meals. Some states require that you count the number of meals not only by the subsidized type (e.g. free, reduced, fully paid), but also by age group within the meal subsidy type.
To access this window; From the Main menu, click SCHOOL, then FOOD PROGRAM SETUP, then EDIT AGE CATEGORIES.
Now we need to enter the time schedule for when you serve your meals. SchoolLeader uses this information to automatically track when meals have been served to children, based on their attendance records.
To access this window; From the Main menu, click SCHOOL, then FOOD PROGRAM SETUP, then EDIT MEAL SERVING TYPE.
Many schools include the fee for subsidized meals as part of their tuition rates. If this applies to you, then you can still use this process to "count" the meals. To count meals but not charge for them, simply enter a 0 in the Default Service Fee.. If you want to charge for the meal, then enter the price of the meal.
With all your "rule" tables defined, you can now setup the Fee Schedule for your meal program.
To access this window; From the Main menu, click SCHOOL, then FOOD PROGRAM SETUP, then EDIT MEAL FEE SCHEDULE:.
To build a Fee schedule entry simply start from the left column and select the desired options. Remember, you MUST complete one row before moving on to the next row.
Select the Meal Serving Type from the items previously defined
Select the Subsidy Type Description from the items previously defined
Select the Meal Age Category from the items previously defined
Select the A/R Account from the items previously defined (e.g. 105 Meals)
Enter the Meal Serving fee. If you do not charge the parents more then the government allows, then set this number to be the same as the number that the government will reimbursement you. (e.g. the government reimburses $1.65 for free lunch, then enter $1.65). If you set this number higher then the Meal Subsidy amount, then parent will automatically be charged for the difference (e.g. if you entered $2.00 then the parent will be billed $0.35)
Select the Third Party Sponsor (or Subsidizer)
Enter the dollar amount that the subsidy will actually pay for this meal (USDA Set amounts). Note; this can be different from what you charge for the meals.
Details on how to actually use the USDA Food Program Meal Counter are described in a later chapter.