Even with approval of statewide waivers and the new authority of Keep Kids Fed Act 2022, neither have authority that allows all students to eat school meals free of charge in school year 2022-2023. For next school year, in most school districts, families will need to complete an application through their school to determine if their household is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, as was done before the pandemic. Things to know:

• The ESEA (Title I) Income Eligibility Forms (alternate income application) cannot be used for granting a student’s school meals eligibility or Summer P-EBT eligibility, nor can the processing of these forms be covered by funds from the non-profit food service account.
• Determinations made from school meal Household Applications for Free and Reduced-Price Meals and Direct Certification can be used for AzEDS reporting.
• For sites/districts participating in a Special Provision Option on an approved cycle, the ESEA (Title I) Income Eligibility Forms may be used to collect free and reduced data for AzEDS reporting only during non-base years or an active CEP cycle and the cost of processing the ESEA (Title I) Income Eligibility Forms must be paid for with funds outside of the non-profit food service account.