Free and Reduced Lunches

On this page:

Once PowerLunch Initialization setup is complete, you can then begin setting up PowerLunch to serve free and reduced lunches. The first two procedures, Set Eligibility Levels and Create Eligibility Letter Templates, must be done before you can start using PowerLunch. This may or may not be the responsibility of your PowerSchool administrator. School administrators should see Evaluate an Application for information about evaluating applications every time they receive an application for free or reduced lunches.

Set Eligibility Levels

For students to receive free or reduced-price lunches, you must set the cut-off amounts for each type of lunch. Additionally, you must set how much money a family can earn to be eligible for each type of lunch. The number of people in a household is also a part of the calculation. The state issues the values for these cut-offs that you enter into PowerLunch.

Repeat this procedure for each household size indicated by your state's directives.

1. On the start page, choose PowerLunch under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Click Meal Program Eligibility under Management.
3. Click Set Eligibility Levels. 
4. Click New. 

5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Household Size	Enter the number of household members identified for this meal program.
   Max monthly income that qualifies for Free meals for this household size	Enter the maximum monthly income that qualifies a student for free meals for the specified household size.
   Max monthly income that qualifies for Reduced meals for this household size	Enter the maximum monthly income that qualifies a student for reduced meals for the specified household size.

6. Click Submit. 

Create Eligibility Letter Templates

When a student applies for a free or reduced lunch, you must inform the parents or guardians of the results of the evaluation. To do this, PowerLunch generates letters. Generating such a letter is discussed in Evaluate an Application, but the following instructions explain how to set up the template for the letter.

To evaluate an application for free or reduced lunches, see Evaluate an Application. For more information about serving meals, see Daily Activities.

1. On the start page, choose PowerLunch under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Click Meal Program Eligibility under Management. 
3. Click Free. 
4. Enter text for the letter to appear when a student is approved as free. In addition to standard text, you can include HTML tags and PowerSchool data codes.
5. Click Submit. 
6. Repeat these steps for the other two types of letters: Reduced Lunches and Not Eligible.
   Note: To make your work quicker, copy the text and codes from the Free Lunch letter, and paste them into body of the remaining letters. Then simply edit the text or codes to make them fit in the new letters.

Evaluate an Application

Evaluate a student's application for free or reduced lunches. The default status for all students is Full Pay. An evaluation resulting in free or reduced lunches changes the status accordingly, and PowerLunch records the free or reduced lunch price in the appropriate student record. When the student passes through the lunch line, either the amount for a reduced lunch is charged to the student's account or there is no charge if the student receives free lunches. All lunches (full pay, reduced, free, and earned) are recorded for reporting purposes.

1. On the start page, choose PowerLunch under Applications in the main menu.
2. Click Meal Program Eligibility under Management. 
3. Enter the last names of the students to be evaluated. Separate multiple names with semicolons.
4. Enter the application number, if applicable.
5. Click Submit. 

6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Select each student to whom this evaluation will apply	Select the checkboxes to choose each student to whom this evaluation will apply, even if only one student is listed.
   Household size	Enter the size of the student's or students' household.
   Monthly income	Enter the monthly income of the student's or students' household.
   Guardian name and address	Enter the name and address of the student's or students' guardian, as displayed on the eligibility letter.
   Options	Select the standard evaluation option if you just want to verify a student's eligibility. Select the direct certification option to qualify the student by overriding the minimum monthly income requirements.

7. Click Submit.