Local Meal Charge Policy Resources/Best Practices

The School Nutrition Programs Local Meal Charge Policy Resources and Best Practices online training.

Course Description

The objective of this training is to provide resources which include California law, California Department of Education (CDE) management bulletins and web pages, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy memos and resources regarding local meal charge policies and Senate Bill 250, as well as best practices.

Course Number: 321
Training Length: 25 minutes
Certificate: Available at the end of the training
Target Audience: Food Service Director, Staff, and Chief Business Officials
Mandatory: No
Cost: Free
Date Recorded: January 2019

Online Course

Begin the Resources and Best Practices course.

Referenced Resources

The following resources are referred to throughout this online course.

The Child Hunger Prevention and Fair Treatment Act of 2017
CDE Management Bulletin SNP-04-2023: Unpaid Meal Charges and Excess Account Balances
CDE web page: Community Eligibility Provision
CDE web page: Provisions: Claiming Alternatives
USDA Policy Memo SP 23-2017: Unpaid Meal Charges: Guidance and Q&As
USDA Policy Memo SP 46-2016: Unpaid Meal Charges: Local Meal Charge Policies
USDA Policy Memo SP 43-2016: Ensuring Access to Free and Reduced-Price School Meals for Low-Income Students
USDA Policy Memo SP 17-2014: Discretionary Elimination of Reduced Price Charges in the School Meal Program
USDA Policy Memo SP 29-2017: 2017 Edition: Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge: Proven Strategies from Our Nation’s Schools
USDA web page: Unpaid Meal Charges
USDA Webinar: Unpaid Meal Charges: Local Charge Policy Requirements

Crediting

Crediting: 0.42 hours
Key Area: Administration (3000)
- Training Topic: Program Management (3200)
  - Learning Objective: Oversee Standard Operation Procedures for routine operations (3220)

For more information on crediting, access the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) professional standards web page .

Contact Us

If you have questions, please contact the School Nutrition Programs Unit by email at SNPquestions@cde.ca.gov.

Questions: Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

Last Reviewed: Thursday, March 12, 2026

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