Triton Regional School District Free and Reduced Meal Press Release

PUBLIC RELEASE
Triton Regional School District is announcing its policy for determining eligibility of children who may receive free or reduced price meals served under the National School Lunch Program.
Breakfast cost $1.65 for grades K-12 and Lunch costs $2.75 for grades K-8 and $3.00 for grades 9-12 at TRSD.
Your children may qualify for free meals or for reduced price meals. Reduced price is $0.40 for lunch and $0.30 for breakfast.

Below are some common questions and answers to help you with the application process.
1. WHO CAN GET FREE OR REDUCED PRICE MEALS?
a. All children in households receiving benefits from MA SNAP or MA TANF are eligible for free meals.
b. Foster children that are under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court are eligible for free meals.
c. Children participating in their school’s Head Start program are eligible for free meals.
d. Children who meet the definition of homeless, runaway, or migrant are eligible for free meals.
e. Children may receive free or reduced price meals if your household’s income is within the limits on the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines. Your children may qualify for free or reduced price meals if your household income falls at or below the limits on this chart.

If you have received a NOTICE OF DIRECT CERTIFICATION from Triton Regional School District for the 2016-2017 school year, you do not need to complete an application. Please notify the school if any children in the household are not listed on the NOTICE OF DIRECT CERTIFICATION letter you received.
Triton Regional School District families who were eligible for free or reduced meals for 2015-2016 school year must submit new applications for their children on or before October 14th, 2016 to continue to receive free or reduced meals for the 2016-2017 school year.

Applications are accepted at any time during the school year and will be effective when approved by the Food Service Office. Applications are available on the Triton’s District website under Food Services and are available at the main office of each school. If you would like to request an application be sent to you in the mail please contact your child’s school or call the Food Service Director’s office at 978-465-2397 x1063.

INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES
(Effective July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017)

Calculating Household Income
 If there is only one source of income or if all sources are received in the same frequency, no conversion is required.
 If there are multiple income sources with more than one frequency, the LEA must annualize all income by multiplying:
 Weekly income by 52;
 Bi-weekly income (received every two weeks) by 26;
 Semi-monthly income (received twice a month) by 24;
 Monthly income by 12.
 Do not round the values resulting from each conversion.
 Add all of the un-rounded converted values and compare the un-rounded converted total to the appropriate IEG for annual income for the household size.
 Refer to pages 32-36 in the Eligibility Manual for School Meals (July 2015) for more information.

Non-discrimination Statement:
The U.S Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.)
If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint__ling_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339; or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer
Free Meals (130%)
Reduced Meals (185%)