" August 1, 2022 - As schools return to normal operations, CEs that operated SSO during school year (SY) 2020-2021 may not have the data needed to determine eligibility for severe need breakfast and lunch reimbursements in SY 2022-2023. These CEs may use the most beneficial claims data going back to SY 2019-2020 to qualify for severe need, as outlined in this article.
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August 1, 2022 - For school year (SY) 2022-2023, school sites are eligible for severe need breakfast reimbursement if 40 percent or more of NSLP lunches served to students in SY 2020-2021 were free or reduced-price. CEs are eligible for severe need lunch reimbursement, also known as the 2-cent differential, if 60 percent or more of NSLP lunches served to students in SY 2020-2021 were free or reduced-price. As schools return to normal operations, CEs that operated SSO or SFSP during SY 2020-2021 may not have the data needed to determine eligibility for severe need reimbursements in SY 2022-2023. As a result, the following guidelines apply for determining severe need eligibility:
- CEs that submitted at least three months of NSLP claims during SY 2020-2021 will have the data needed to qualify for SY 2022-2023 severe need. These CEs must use their SY 2020-2021 claims to meet the severe need eligibility criteria.
- CEs that operated NSLP in SY 2021-2022 but did not have adequate claims data for SY 2020-2021 will use the SY 2021-2022 data to qualify for severe need in SY 2022-2023.
- CEs that switched to SFSP or SSO prior to submitting three months of NSLP claims in SY 2020-2021 and then operated SSO in SY 2021-2022 may use the most beneficial claims data to qualify for severe need as follows.
Severe Need Breakfast
CEs may choose the most beneficial option from below:
- Option 1: Use the total number of lunches claimed free or reduced-price under NSLP for the time the CE operated NSLP in SY 2019-2020. To utilize this option, enter all free, reduced-price, paid meal data from SY 2019-2020 in question #6 of the 2022-2023 NSLP site application in TXUNPS.
- Option 2: Use the total number of lunches claimed free or reduced-price under NSLP during the first three months of SY 2022-2023. Severe need reimbursement will be retroactive back to the three months used to establish eligibility. To utilize this option, complete the Severe Need Approval Request Form located in TX-UNPS>Application>Download Forms>FORM SNP-007. Once the first three claims of SY 2022-2023 are submitted, instructions on updating the site application and submitting adjusted claims will be provided.
Severe Need Lunch
TDA will determine CE eligibility based on claims data going back to SY 20192020. CEs that do not qualify for severe need based on this data may complete Option 2 above to determine eligibility. CEs should monitor the Claim Summary page of each NSLP claim submitted for the school year. If the CE does not receive severe need lunch reimbursement in its first claim of SY 2022-2023, the CE may then complete Option 2.
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