SY 24-25 Paid Lunch Equity Tool

The Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) tool is provided by USDA for School Food Authorities to calculate the average weighted price of the paid lunch meal prices.

School Food Authorities use the PLE tool to calculate the paid lunch price(s) requirement and/or non-Federal source contributions to meet the requirements specified in 7 CFR 210.14€.

Texas Department of Agriculture suggests ALL School Food Authorities who charge a student meal price.

Where is the PLE tool located?

Administration & Forms for NSLP

Make sure you download the 2024-25 PLE Tool.

*Receiving an error message? You don't have the updated Excel version to operate the tool. Try opening the tool in a Google drive.

In order to complete the PLE tool, you must have

• previous SY PLE tool completed
• October 2023 paid lunch price(s)
• October 2023 number of paid lunch price meals claimed per each price charged

If you do not have the previous SY PLE tool completed, you need

• October 2010 paid lunch price(s)
• October 2010 number of paid lunch price meals claimed per each price charged

If an SFA did not charge for meals during SY 2023-24, such as an SFA that operated the Community Eligibility Provision, Provisions 2 or 3, or a state funded non-pricing option and is returning to standard counting and claiming in SY 2024-25, it may use the most recent paid lunch price data as the basis for its SY 2024-25 paid lunch calculation. If an SFA is unable to find documentation of the last paid meal price charged to students, then it must follow FNS guidance for new schools found in Guidance on Paid Lunch Equity and Revenue from Nonprogram Foods | Food and Nutrition Service (usda.gov).

You must complete the following tabs:

• Instructions tab - Type SFA Name at the top of the page
• SY 24-25 Requirement Calculator
• SY 24-25 Price Raise Calculator
• SY 24-25 Report

The following tabs are only necessary if the district wants to supplement the school nutrition fund instead of increasing paid lunch prices.

• SY 24-25 Non-Federal Calculator - This tab is to calculate the supplemented amount from a nonfederal source instead of increasing paid lunch prices.
• SY 24-25 Split Calculator - This tab is to calculate the supplemented amount from a nonfederal source when increasing less than the required amount.

Yes! MEMO SP 14-2024

For SY 2024-2025, SFAs with a positive or zero balance in the nonprofit school food service account as of June 30, 2023, are exempt from PLE pricing requirements found at 7 CFR 210.14(e).

*You must have proof of SNP fund balance as of June 30, 2023.

Functionality issues and errors have been reported with the recently released Paid Lunch Equity tool for districts using older versions of Microsoft Excel, dating back to at least the 2016 version (TDA has not received any notification about versions later than 2016).
USDA has indicated that a version compatible with older versions will not be released.

PLE Tool Troubleshooting:

You may open the PLE Tool in Google Drive to prevent error messages. However, you may not have the drop-down arrow available on the SY 24-25 Report tab. Suggestion: type your selection on the box, save & print.

See the School Nutrition Program application instructions here.

If you are a school with meal prices then you distribute meal applications. Attachment B Upload is an added step to the application for uploading the meal applications and letters.

• TXUNPS SNP manual for application system instructions.

Directions for Uploading Certification and Benefit Issuance Documentation in TX-UNPS SNP-134

Starting School Year (SY) 2020-2021 and each SY forward, each CE must provide its certification and benefit issuance templates to TDA. To streamline the submission, TDA has developed a tool for collecting these documents that is located in TX-UNPS | Application Screen | Attachment B: Upload Attachments.

CEs that operate CE-wide Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) or Provision 2 (P2) in a Non-Base Year are not required to upload household applications, directions, and notification letters.

Directions for document submission are located in TX-UNPS | Application Screen | Download Forms | SNP Form 134, Directions for Uploading Certification and Benefit Issuance Documentation in TX-UNPS. This module opens on July 1 and close on October 31.

Cindy Scott

CN Program Specialist

936-435-8234

cscott@esc6.net

Dina Herrick

CN Program Specialist

936-435-8244

dherrick@esc6.net

Julie A. Smith

CN Program Specialist

936-435-8238

jasmith@esc6.net

Tona Holcombe

CN Program Administrative Assistant

936-435-8236

tholcombe@esc6.net

Refer to squaremeals.org for updated guidance on the SNP.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. This program is funded by the USDA.