Free meals at school in 2018: what documents are needed to receive benefits

The content of the article

• What is free school meals?
• Who should
• Options for preferential meals
• How to make out
• How to write a statement
• Documents for free meals at school

On weekdays, children spend most of their time in schools, so parents are very concerned about the issue of nutrition – how, how and how many times students are fed during this time. Breakfast and lunch, which the student receives in the dining room, undergoes a special test for energy value, the content of vitamins and minerals, so this diet can be called balanced and healthy..

What is free school meals?

At current prices for school breakfasts and lunches, their payment is a serious part of the expenses of the family budget and not all parents can afford it. For example, the Moscow Schoolboy Nutrition Combine, since January 2018, has been offering the following prices:

• breakfast 5-11 classes – 82.71 rubles;
• lunch 1-4 classes – 134.22 rubles;
• lunch 5-11 classes – 152.37 rubles.

Even if high school students will be limited only to lunch, a decent amount will still come out: 152.37 rubles x 5 days = 761.85 rubles. in Week. This is why providing children from low-income families with free meals at school in 2018 has a very important social significance. The Federal Law “On Education” considers the financing of preferential nutrition in schools to the competence of regional authorities. They determine what the subsidy for food in the school should be from the local budget and monitor the compliance with sanitary standards for school canteens.

Who should

The legislation defines the circle of persons entitled to partial payment or completely free meals at school in 2018. For example, according to the Order of the Moscow Department of Education, this includes children:

• from large families with 5 or more minor children;
• from low-income families (in this case, it is necessary that the income per family member is less than the subsistence minimum for a given subject of the Russian Federation);
• under guardianship or orphans who have lost one or both breadwinners and receive a pension for this reason;
• having a disability or chronic disease;
• at least one of whose parents is a disabled person of the first or second group;
• whose parents suffered from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or participated in the liquidation of this disaster.

Options for preferential meals

Preferential meals at school can be completely free or involve partial payment – this depends on the social category to which the student or his family belongs. A variant is also possible with the return of a part of the spent funds according to the results of a month or another accounting period. In this case, the meal depends on the mode of the educational institution, and it happens:

• one-time (breakfast or lunch);
• two meals a day (breakfast and lunch or lunch and afternoon snack, depending on the academic shift);
• three meals a day (afternoon snack in addition to two meals a day);
• five and six meals a day for specialized educational institutions such as boarding schools.

What exactly will be free meals at school in 2018 depends on the amount of subsidies allocated by the regional department for social needs for a particular subject of the Russian Federation (while the benefits for primary and high school students may vary). The most common options are:

• Free breakfast
• discounts for those in need for school breakfasts and lunches;
• completely free two meals a day.

How to make out

The first thing to do is to clarify whether your child is eligible for this benefit. Free and partially paid breakfasts and lunches of educational institutions are funded from the regional budget and local legislation should establish this norm, so the list of preferential categories and criteria for different constituent entities of the Russian Federation will differ. For example, food in a school for large families is provided in the presence of five or more minor children, while regional legislation interprets “large families” much more widely:

• In Moscow, a large family is considered to be where there are three children under 16 years of age. During full-time studies, the age framework increases to 18 years.
• For the Krasnodar Territory, the age limit is 23 years (for full-time students) and 18 years for other children.

The difference in interpretation also changes the conditions under which free meals are provided to large families at school in different regions (this also applies to other categories of students). It is quite possible that the administration of a comprehensive school may not be aware of all regional subsidies, so parents should thoroughly study this issue. If you find out that your child is entitled to this benefit (for example, meals for children with disabilities at school), then the following algorithm will be as follows:

1. Write a statement to the school principal informing you that your family is entitled to this form of social support.
2. Prepare documentation that will prove these rights.
3. Provide this package of documents to the school administration.
4. Further, the documents are sent to the guardianship authorities, where a decision is made on the provision of benefits.

An application for the provision of preferential food should be submitted in advance, as a rule, in the previous school year. In other words, in order to receive a benefit in 2017-2018, a package of documents must be submitted before June 2017. But situations are also possible when the right to a benefit appears while studying (changing the composition of the family, etc.) or the child transfers to another school – in this case, the student will have the right to use the next calendar month after applying.

How to write a statement

The application is written in any form, the main thing is that there are data on which a privilege is provided to pay for the cost of school meals. A correctly drawn up appeal consists of three parts:

• “Caps”, which indicates to whom this document is intended and by whom (the name and initials of the director of the educational institution are given, and below is the applicant’s data). Below you need to write in the middle of the line “Statement”.
• The content of the main part of the application depends on the specific reason (large families, parental disabilities, etc.), which should be indicated. The accompanying documents that are attached to the application are immediately mentioned. For example, for low-income families, the text will be as follows: “Please provide free food to my son, Ivan Maximov, a student in grade 7b. Our family is poor. The monthly income for each family member is 8,234 rubles (a certificate from the Social Security Department is attached) “.
• In the final part, you can indicate that for the period of illness or other good reasons for the absence of the student, meals remain with the class. The latest is the applicant’s signature, last name, initials and date of application.

Documents for free meals at school

The submitted documentation is considered by the school administration, and with a positive decision, the child is entered in the lists for receiving preferential meals. The basic package of documents should include:

• Director’s application.
• Birth certificate.
• Copy of the passport of the parent applying.

Depending on the situation, a family or a child may fall into different categories for providing benefits for free (or partially paid) school meals. Therefore, additional documents must be attached to the base package. For example, for large families, the list will be as follows:

• Help informing about the composition of the family.
• A copy of the birth certificates (passports) of all children of minor age (or up to 23 years of age when studying at the university, for regions where a similar age limit is adopted).
• A copy of the status of a mother of many children.

If benefits are granted to a disabled child, the list will be different. The package of documents for this situation contains:

• A copy of the medical certificate on the appointment of disability due to physical limitations.
• Family composition certificate.

If a student has at least one parent who is disabled, he also has the right to preferential feeding. To receive this benefit prepare:

• Copy of passport of disabled parent.
• Copy of the certificate of medical and social examination (ITU) on the disability of the parent.

If the child’s family has the status of poor and / or incomplete, then he also has the right to free school breakfasts and lunches. To do this, add to the basic package of documents:

• Information that the family belongs to the category of the poor, that is, for each member of the family has an income less than the subsistence level. If you have an adult non-working family member, you need a document on registration at the Employment Center or an ITU opinion on the inability to work due to health reasons.
• Act of inspection of living conditions in the family – it is carried out by the class teacher.

Having lost one of the breadwinners, the student also falls into the preferential category. Additionally, you need to prepare:

• Copy of death certificate of one of the parents.
• Document stating that a student receives a survivor’s pension from the state.
• Family composition certificate.

The school canteen will also feed orphans who have foster families or received custody, free of charge. To do this, prepare the paper:

• Copy of the decision of the social service (guardianship authorities) on the appointment of a guardian.
• Family Membership Document.

If one of the parents is a victim of the Chernobyl accident, then this is also the basis for social nutrition. The school administration is additionally provided with:

• Copy of the passport of the parent, due to which the right to the benefit arises.
• Document that he is a victim of the Chernobyl accident.