Nondiscrimination Plan
The District's plan for students receiving free or reduced price meals shall ensure the following: (Education Code 49557)
1. The names of the students shall not be published, posted, or announced in any manner, or used for any purpose other than the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, unless otherwise provided by law.
2. There shall be no overt identification of any of the students by the use of special tokens or tickets or by any other means.
3. The students shall not be required to work for their meals or for milk.
4. The students shall not be required to use a separate dining area, go through a separate serving line or entrance, or consume their meals or milk at a different time.
When more than one lunch, breakfast, or type of milk is offered, the students shall have the same choice of meals or milk as is available to those students who pay the full price. (Education Code 49557; 7 CFR 245.8)
(cf. 0410 - Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities)
(cf. 5145.3 - Nondiscrimination/Harassment)
Applications
An application form for free or reduced price meals shall be distributed to all parents/guardians at the beginning of each school year, together with information about eligibility standards, application procedures, and appeal procedures. This form and information shall also be provided whenever a new student is enrolled. (Education Code 49520, 48980; 7 CFR 245.5)
(cf. 5145.6 - Parental Notifications)
Applications for free and/or reduced price meal programs shall be available to students at all times during the regular school day and shall contain the following statements: (Education Code 49557; 7 CFR 245.5)
1. Applications for free or reduced price meals may be submitted at any time during a school day.
2. Students participating in the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs will not be overtly identified by the use of special tokens, special tickets, special serving lines, separate entrances, separate dining areas, or by any other means.
The application packet also shall contain:
1. A notification that, if a student qualifies for free or reduced price meals, then he/she may qualify for free or reduced-cost health insurance coverage
2. A request for the parent/guardian's consent for the student, if eligible for free school lunches, to participate in the Medi-Cal program and to have the information on the school lunch application shared with the local agency that determines eligibility under the Medi-Cal program
3. A notification that the District will not forward the application to the agency that determines Medi-Cal eligibility without the parent/guardian's consent
4. A notification that the application is confidential and, with the exception of forwarding the information for use in health program enrollment, will not be shared with any other governmental agency for any purpose other than the administration of the Medi-Cal program
5. A notification that the application information will be used only by the state and local agencies that administer the Medi-Cal program and will not be shared with other government agencies, including the federal Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, except as necessary to verify information provided by the parent/guardian
6. Information regarding the Medi-Cal program, including available services, program requirements, rights and responsibilities, and privacy and confidentiality requirements
(cf. 5141.6 - Student Health and Social Services)
Eligibility
The Superintendent or designee shall determine students' eligibility for the free and reduced-price meal program based on the criteria specified in 42 USC 1758 and 1773 and 7 CFR 245.1-245.13 and made available by the California Department of Education.
When authorized by law, participants in other federal or state programs may be directly certified for enrollment in the free and reduced-price meal program. (Education Code 49561)
Confidentiality/Release of Records
The Board of Trustees designates the following District employees to use individual records pertaining to student participation in the free or reduced price meal program for the purpose of disaggregation of academic achievement data or for the identification of students eligible for school choice and supplemental educational services in any school identified for program improvement pursuant to 20 USC 6316:
1. Database Administrator
2. Director of Information Systems
3. Assistant Superintendent, Instructional Services
4. Director of Curriculum and Instruction
In using the records for such purposes, the following conditions shall be satisfied: (Education Code 49558)
1. No individual indicators of participation in the free and/or reduced price meal program shall be maintained in the permanent records of any student if not otherwise allowed by law.
(cf. 5125 - Student Records)
2. Information regarding individual student participation in the free and/or reduced price meal program shall not be publicly released.
(cf. 4119.23/4219.23/4319.23 - Unauthorized Release of Confidential/Privileged Information)
3. All other confidentiality provisions required by law shall be met.
4. Information collected regarding individual students certified to participate in the free and/or reduced price meal program shall be destroyed when no longer needed for its intended purpose.
Regulation CARLSBAD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
approved: July 26, 2006 Carlsbad, California
revised: June 17, 2008
revised: August 24, 2011