School meal eligibility notice: what families must be told

Who has to publish and when

After the State agency tells a district that its eligibility criteria are approved, section 245.5 requires the district to announce them publicly. Boarding schools, residential child care institutions and schools that include food fees in tuition, where all attending children receive the same meals or milk, do not need to. The announcements are made at the beginning of each school year or, if approval comes later, within 10 days after notice is received.

Any change to a school’s eligibility criteria during the year must be announced in the same way as the original. Copies of the public release are available to anyone who asks.

The letter to parents

The first minimum element is a letter or notice and application sent on or about the start of the school year to the parents of all children in attendance. The letter must explain the reduced-price criteria and make clear that households at or below those criteria qualify for either free or reduced-price meals. It must explain how to apply, and that an application cannot be approved unless complete. It must say that households with children in currently certified SNAP, FDPIR or TANF households may submit applications with the abbreviated information those programs allow.

The letter must also say that the information may be verified at any time during the school year, that a household can apply at any point as circumstances change, and that children whose parents become unemployed are eligible during the period of unemployment if the loss of income brings household income inside the criteria. It must carry the nondiscrimination statement: in the operation of child feeding programs, no child will be discriminated against because of race, sex, color, national origin, age or disability.

Categorical groups, appeals and WIC

Three more items round out the eleven. Families must be told that Head Start enrollees and foster, homeless, migrant and runaway children are categorically eligible for free meals and free milk, and should contact the school. They must be told how to appeal the district’s decision under the hearing procedure in § 245.7, and the letter must be accompanied by a copy of the application form required under § 245.6. And it must state that WIC participants may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

That last item links two programs in this series: WIC participation alone is not a categorical qualification in this rule, but it is a prompt to apply, and the income limits for each are different tables. Our WIC income eligibility chart covers WIC, and the free-and-reduced application page covers school meal limits for 2026-27.

The public release

The second minimum element is a public release containing the same information given to parents, including both the free and reduced-price criteria. It must go to the informational media, the local unemployment office and any major employers contemplating large layoffs in the area the school draws from. The point is to reach families who are not yet in the school’s mailings, including households that have just lost a job.

Why it matters in practice

Because the letter is the first thing many families see, a missing item can cost real benefits. A family not told that it can apply mid-year may wait until next fall. One not told that unemployment can change eligibility may assume last year’s income decides everything. The checklist on this page lists the eleven required items; tick what a draft contains and it lists what is still missing. It does not judge wording or readability, and the regulation separately requires communications in a language parents can understand where practicable.

Where the income numbers come from

This section does not print dollar limits. The criteria come from the annual USDA income eligibility guidelines, which for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 set free at 130 percent and reduced price at 185 percent of the 2026 federal poverty guidelines. For example, the annual limits for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states are $42,900 for free meals and $61,050 for reduced-price meals, as printed in the April 9, 2026 notice. The district’s letter should show the full table for its area.

What this page does not do

It does not know what your district sent. If your family did not receive a letter, or a district sent a notice without required items, the district office and then the State child nutrition agency are the next step.

Sources

• 7 CFR 245.5, Public announcement of the eligibility criteria: eCFR text current through the October 29, 2026 issue date. Read November 2, 2026.
• USDA Child Nutrition Programs: Income Eligibility Guidelines (2026-2027): Notice dated April 9, 2026, effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (Federal Register document 2026-06842); the four-person figures above come from its printed annual table for the 48 contiguous states. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: 7 CFR 245.5 (eCFR, current through the October 29, 2026 issue date). This page summarizes the rule and does not replace it.