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Food and Nutrition Programs

Fiscal Year 2020 Massachusetts Schools with 50% of Student Enrollment Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Meals in Child Nutrition Programs

To:Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Sponsors
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Sponsors of At-Risk Afterschool meal sites, and Family Day Care Homes
From:Robert M. Leshin, Director
Office for Food and Nutrition Programs
Date:March 13, 2020

This memorandum is a listing of schools in Massachusetts that have been determined by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to have fifty percent or more of the student enrollment eligible for free or reduced-price meal benefits for Fiscal Year 2020. This list may be used to determine the eligibility for:

  • At-risk after school meals in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP);
  • Area eligible open sites in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP);
  • Closed enrolled sites in SFSP based on Community Eligibility Provision (CEP); and
  • Tier 1 provider eligibility in Family Day Care (FDC).

Attendance area: School districts utilize a variety of methods to determine attendance areas for schools. It is the CACFP/SFSP sponsor's responsibility to contact the relevant school district and determine if their site/home is in the attendance area of a school on this list. Note: sponsors must retain all supporting attendance area documentation.

Example: When documenting an address in Quincy as area eligible or Tier 1, use current school boundary information to identify if it is in the attendance area of "North Quincy High" or "Quincy High".

Community Eligibility Provision (CEP): Schools on the list with a CEP designation of "Y" can be used to qualify new SFSP closed enrolled sites located at the school or within the attendance area of the school.

Determination duration: Area eligibility or Tier 1 status determinations for all schools on this list will be effective for five (5) years, at which time eligibility must be re-determined. This five-year eligibility duration is also true for closed enrolled SFSP sites using the CEP designation.

Eligible for onsite meal service only: Schools on the list with an asterisk "*" next to their name do not have attendance areas and therefore may not be used to determine area eligibility. These schools are eligible for onsite meal service only, through an approved CACFP at-risk site, SFSP open site, or SFSP closed enrolled site by CEP eligibility. FDC Sponsors cannot use these schools to qualify an FDC provider as eligible for Tier 1 status.

City or town-wide eligibility: Bolded schools qualify entire cities or towns as area eligible. If all the schools of a particular grade level in a city or town have over fifty percent qualifying for free or reduced priced meals, the entire city or town would be area eligible. When documenting the eligibility of CACFP at-risk sites, SFSP sites or FDC provider's Tier 1 status, use the bolded school as the qualifying school.

Example: Any address in Brockton can be qualified as area eligible or Tier 1 by referencing that it is within the attendance area of "Brockton High".

New for this year — when qualifying a location in Springfield and Worcester, please use the single bolded school on the list for each city.

When more than one school in a city or town is bolded, identify to which school(s) the applicable address is assigned.

City of Boston: DESE has determined any address in Boston as area eligible due to Boston Public School's method of assigning neighborhood schools and the number of eligible schools city wide. Use the selection "East Boston High" in the attached list to qualify an address within the city of Boston as an area eligible CACFP At-Risk site, SFSP open site, SFSP closed enrolled site by CEP eligibility, or an FDC provider as eligible for Tier 1 status.

Retaining Documentation: On this list, identify the school that qualifies an address as area eligible or Tier 1. Retain a copy of the pertinent page from this list along with any additional information you used to document the attendance area of the address (i.e. street lists, information from school department web pages, etc.).

If you have any questions please contact Shannon Raymond .

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: Filing a Program Discrimination Complaint as a USDA Customer, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

  1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
    1400 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

  2. fax: (202) 690-7442; or

  3. email: program.intake@usda.gov .


This institution is an equal opportunity provider.





Last Updated: March 13, 2020



 
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