The USDA interactive Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) allows CEs to search creditable food items for food yield information to help determine the specific contribution each food item makes towards a reimbursable meal in all Child Nutrition Programs. It also provides useful tools, such as the Recipe Analysis Workbook and the Product Formulation Statement Workbook. In addition, with yield data for more than 2,100 food items, this guide provides ideas for adding new foods or new versions of familiar foods to your menus. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize that a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains, especially dark green and red/orange vegetables and whole grains, are key elements of a healthful diet.

Contracting entities may also use the following resources to assist in ensuring that meals meet program requirements for reimbursement:

• USDA’s Exhibit A: Grain Requirements for Child Nutrition Programs for crediting grains.
• The Food Buying Guide Calculator for Child Nutrition Programs, a web-based calculator developed by USDA’s Team Nutrition and the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN), to determine how much of each item to purchase to provide the number of servings needed.

NOTE: Contents of all Food Buying Guide Supplements previously found on this page have been incorporated into the FBG. Requests for copies of archived Food Buying Guide Supplements can be emailed to FNDPolicy@Texasagriculture.gov. In the subject of the email, list the full name of the Food Buying Guide Supplement requested.

For School Year 2020-2021, pre-K students will not be given free eligibility automatically. Click here for additional guidance on implementing this change.

Carryover Eligibility for Students Transferring from Special Provision Schools to Non-Special Provision Schools
USDA has released new guidance on applying the carryover provision for students that transfer from special provision schools to non-special provision schools. Starting School Year 2016-2017, contracting entities (CE) must provide carryover eligibility to students transferring from a special provision school to a non-special provision school both during and between school years. Special provision schools operate the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) or Provision 2 (P2).

By extending carryover to these students, CEs are given additional time to process applications, prevent unpaid meal charges, and ensure that students receive meals while their eligibility is being processed. The carryover period is 30 operating days or until there is a new eligibility determination, whichever comes first. During the carryover period or until a new eligibility determination is made, reimbursable meals for these students may be claimed at the free rate.

To facilitate the identification of students that are now eligible for carryover, TDA will be distributing a list of all schools operating a special provision program in School Year 2015-2016 to the education service centers (ESC) the week of August 16th.

CEs should contact their ESC if they have students who have transferred. The ESC will assist them in determining if the updated carryover provision applies. TDA will be updating Administrator's Reference Manual, Section 5, Special Provisions and other guidance.

The USDA Eligibility Manual is available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/guidance-and-resources. This manual contains information on federal requirements regarding the determination and verification of eligibility for free and reduced price meals in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). These provisions also apply to the determination of eligibility for free milk under the Special Milk Program (SMP). This manual is to be used in conjunction with Section 4, Determining Eligibility in the Administrator's Reference Manual (ARM).

Two bills affecting school nutrition in Texas were passed during the 84th Legislative Session and signed into law by the Governor. One of the new laws offers an alternative way to fund school breakfast for students eligible for free or reduced price meals and the other addresses policies for students purchasing meals after their prepaid funds are exhausted. The bills are effective immediately.

HB 1305—Breakfast Mandate
Starting with School Year 2015-2016, public and charter schools that are mandated to offer breakfast may operate a locally funded breakfast program in lieu of the federally funded School Breakfast Program. 

School districts or charter schools may have schools that operate the School Breakfast Program and other schools that operate a locally funded breakfast program. In these cases, the school district or charter school must fully fund its locally funded breakfast program from resources other than the Child Nutrition Program. 

Locally funded breakfast programs are eligible for state compensatory funding. Please note state compensatory funding is administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

HB 3562—Charge Policy
If a school district allows students to use prepaid meal cards or accounts to purchase school meals, the district must establish a grace period during which a student is able to charge meals after the prepaid funds are exhausted.  

The school district must also notify the student’s parent or guardian that the student’s meal card or account balance is exhausted. The district is not allowed to charge a fee or interest in connection with meals purchased by the students during the grace period. When the school district notifies the student’s parent or guardian that the student has a negative balance, the district may set a repayment schedule for the meal charges.

• Code of Federal Regulations (related to F&N)
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.1: General Procedures
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.1.P: Appeal Procedures for F&N
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.25: Special Nutrition Programs
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.26: Food and Nutrition Division