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BCSD 101 loses most free breakfast benefits |
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December 7, 2017 |
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Page 58.
Appendix D, USDA Food and Nutrition
Guide,
Provision 2
Guidance National School Lunch and
School Breakfast Programs |
By Mike Weland
Boundary County School District #101 Food
Service recently closed a review from the Idaho
State Department of Education, and
unfortunately, as of January 8, all schools
except Valley View Elementary will no longer be
participating in the Provision 2 Breakfast
Program.
Valley View is on a different base year
and still qualifies to participate in the
Provision II meal program. (Under federal
guidelines, Provision 2 and Provision II are
considered the same, even though one uses an
Arabic numeral while the other uses two Latin
numerals, which, for the record, do not have to
be dotted).
The rest of BCSD #101 will have to apply for an
extension at the end of 2017-18.
In the convoluted and indecipherable manner
usual with most federal public school funding
formulas, the USDA Food and Nutrition department
explains in their introduction of the handy
58-page guide,
Provision 2 Guidance National School Lunch and
School Breakfast Programs, "Traditionally,
school officials annually distribute free and
reduced price meal applications to households of
all enrolled children and make determinations of
eligibility for free and reduced price meals
under the National School Lunch Program and
School Breakfast Program. They had to count the number of meals served by
type (free, reduced price and paid meals) at the
point of service on a daily basis to claim
federal reimbursement.
"In an effort to reduce paperwork and other
administrative burdens at the local level,
Congress incorporated into Section 11(a)(1) of
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 USC 1759a) three alternative Provisions to
the traditional requirements for annual
determinations of eligibility for free and
reduced price school meals and daily meal counts
by type. These alternatives are commonly
referred to as Provision 1, Provision 2, and
Provision 3.
"Provision 2 requires that the school serve
meals to participating children at no charge but
reduces application burdens to once every 4
years and simplifies meal counting and claiming
procedures by allowing a school to receive meal
reimbursement based on claiming percentages.
Additional 4-year extensions to Provision 2 are
possible when certain conditions are met."
Sadly, one of the dots was apparently missing
from an "I" on a page of Boundary County's
Provision II application burden, and Boundary County families who took
advantage of the benefit to
get their children started off on a day of
learning with a good breakfast must now wait
until the next cycle of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act paperwork
blizzard, when the appropriate dot might be
applied in its proper location.
We can only hope at that time that none of those
sneaky lower case "T" letters go uncrossed.
What it boils down to, said BCSD #101 Food
Service Director Tammy Schneider (who is NOT
responsible for the wayward dot!), is that when
students come back from Christmas break, those
sitting down to breakfast at Valley View will
see no change while those at Naples, Mt. Hall,
Boundary County Middle School and Bonners Ferry
High School will no longer receive free
breakfasts or breakfasts in the class room, as
they go back to standard pre-Provision Doh! federal
operating procedures, which required a lot more
paperwork, but paperwork that wasn't graded for
neatness, penmanship, spelling, punctuation and/or
grammar.
Breakfast at those schools will be served in the
lunch room from 7:30 to 7:55 a.m. at BCMS and
from 7:15 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. at the high school
and at the usual times at the elementary
schools.
It's just that, at Naples and
Mt. Hall, students must eat in the lunch room
and pay.
Breakfast prices at BCMS and BFHS are 30-cents
per day reduced and $1.75 per day paid. At Mt.
Hall and Naples prices are 30-cents per day
reduced and $1.65 per day paid.
If you have any questions, please call food
service director Tammy Schneider at (208)
267-5519 extension 3345, or email
tammy.schneider@mail.bcsd101.com. |
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