Security  

Creating a Record  

Importing Free and Reduced Meal Records  ↑

Overview

The Free and Reduced Meals is used for creating records for Students that apply for and/or qualify for the National School Lunch Program.  

Navigate to Student Data > Programs > Free and Reduced.

Security  ↑

Note:  Due to the confidentiality of the student data related to Free and Reduced Meals records, access should only be given to select Staff.  

Creating a Record  ↑

Free and Reduced records are saved in the Free and Reduced (FRE) table only; no Special Programs record is created. When the CALPADS SPRG file is created, Aeries reports these records as program 181 - Free or 182 - Reduced, so a Special Programs (PGM) record for 181 or 182 should not be entered.  The highlighted fields are the ones used for state reporting. Fields are only required when saving if your district has marked them required in Define Required Fields. NSLP Lunch Type Code and Source come with Aeries-provided codes, and districts can add their own codes in the Code table; the other drop downs use district codes from the Code table. Refer to the Tables and Fields when creating these codes.

The FRE (NSLP/Free and Reduced Meals) table is a multi-record table and needs to be managed carefully. If there are multiple records for a student, you must have proper Start and End dates.

The Eligibility Date fields are required to extract in the SPRG Student Program file. Only FRE records with current year dates will be extracted. FRE records without an Eligibility Start Date will not be extracted. Only records with a code of F or R (or a district code translated to F or R in CALPADS Code Translations) are extracted.

Aeries will auto-convert a code of F to 181 and a code of R to a 182 when reporting to CALPADS.

Below are some helpful guidelines to consider with NSLP reporting.

• No eligibility from Previous School Year is to be reported to CALPADS during the 30 day carry-over period to establish meal eligibility. Eligibility end dates should be populated for previous year’s records.
• Do not submit an SPRG file until you have eligibility data populated for the current Academic Year.
• As students transition between statuses in the current school year (Free, Reduced, Not Eligible), close out old FRE records and add new ones to express the new status. Do not overwrite existing records. The FRE table is designed to be a history of the NSLP status of the student and maintaining a history for at least the current school year is critically important to being able to report this information to CALPADS accurately.

• SNAP # - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program #. If a SNAP # is entered while NSLP Lunch Type Code is blank, the code is set to F (Free).
• TANF # - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families #
• Foster Child - This field is not used for State reporting.  The Special Programs and Secondary Student Data Foster fields should be used.
• # in Household - The number of people in the household. This is filled in when a parent completes the Income Survey in Parent Data Confirmation.
• Declined Partic - Declined to participate in the Program.
• Income Survey Response Level - Display only: 1 (Free), 2 (Reduced) or 3 (Not Eligible), filled in when a parent completes the Income Survey in Parent Data Confirmation.
• Weekly Income - Family's weekly income.
• Monthly Income -Family's monthly income.
• Yearly Income - Family's yearly income. When # in Household and a Weekly, Monthly or Yearly Income are entered, Aeries uses the USDA income guidelines for the current school year to fill in the NSLP Lunch Type Code (F, R or N).
• Applicant's Name - Name of the Parent/Guardian filling out the application on behalf of the Student.
• Parent Income Response Date - Display only: the date and time a parent completed the Income Survey in Parent Data Confirmation.

When a parent submits the Income Survey, Aeries closes the student's current record (End Date = the day before) and adds a new record dated that day with the matching code of F, R or N and a Source of PDC. The Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Income fields are not filled in by the survey.

• NSLP Lunch Type Code - Aeries provides F (Free), R (Reduced) and N (Not Eligible). Texas also has X (Other Economic Disadvantage), U (Unknown) and Z (Full price). Codes the district adds in the Code table also appear.
• Date Received - Date application received
• Date Assigned - Date Eligibility Category assigned.
• Date Modified - Date Eligibility Category modified.
• NSLP Eligibility
• Start Date -Date Student first eligible for NSLP.
• End Date - End Date of Student's eligibility for NSLP.
• NSLP Participation
• Start Date / End Date - Dates the student participated in NSLP. These are separate from the Eligibility dates; CALPADS reporting uses the Eligibility dates.
• Medi-Cal Eligibility (California only)
• Code - District-defined Medi-Cal eligibility code.
• Start Date - Date Student first eligible for Medi-Cal.
• End Date - End Date of Student's eligibility for Medi-Cal.

• User 1 - 8 - District-defined codes.
• Comment - Additional comments for School Staff.
• School - School where the FRE record was assigned. New records default to the student's current school.
• Source - Where the record came from. Aeries provides OE (Online Enrollment) and PDC (Parent Data Confirmation), and in California the EDCS codes UBA, NSL, LDC and EB used by the SSBC / EDCS Extract. Imports can also write a source code from the file.
• CTE Transportation - (Texas only) Yes/No, used for state reporting.

After creating the record it will be listed on the page. The box will display a history of the Students' Free and Reduced eligibility. Record Start and End Dates should not overlap.

Importing Free and Reduced Meal Records  ↑

Data from School Nutrition Programs

Aeries Web can be utilized to schedule regular imports or one time imports of NSLP (National School Lunch Program) data that has been exported from a School Nutrition program, such as E-trition or Titan, into the Free and Reduced Meals (FRE) table. This is accomplished through the NSLP Import Configuration page.

Direct Certification Data

Free and Reduced Meal records can also be added (California) on School Info > Imports and Exports > CALPADS Extracts, Direct Certification tab: select the Direct Certification file, load it, review the import, then click Update Free and Reduced.