One of the measures of social support for certain categories of the population is free meals at school. Students' rights to it are spelled out in the Federal Law 273 "On Education", Article 37.
The burden on parents is only growing. Additional classes, circles, assistance to the school for repairs and so on, a heavy burden falls on the parent's wallet. And the opportunity to somehow alleviate this burden will clearly not be superfluous. It should be noted right away that the very procedure for granting benefits is left to the mercy of the regions. It should also be taken into account that only students of public educational institutions can count on reduced price meals.
What are the types of reduced price meals?
Free meals at school may well consist of breakfast only. It can also include lunch. Usually a certain amount of money is allocated to the school for each student. It directly depends on the state of the budget of the region and the specific municipality. It is also possible that the parents are offered big discounts. For example, pay only 20-30 percent of the payment for lunch. An option that has the right to exist. But free breakfasts are most often provided to all schoolchildren. If the cost of food is more than the allocated funds, the parents will be offered to pay the difference.
So, the following types of free meals can be distinguished.
1. Standard. Breakfast is free, lunch is paid by the parents. The most common scheme.
2. Complete. Free breakfast and lunch.
3. Preferential. Parents pay part of breakfast and lunch, the rest is paid by the state.
Preferential categories
You can find out exactly who is entitled to free meals at school at the very educational institution where your children study. Most often, they require that the family be large or poor. Sometimes both of these conditions must be met. Moreover, all this must be documented. So that the family was recognized as poor and received the right to reduced price meals at school, the income for each family member should not exceed the subsistence level. This is confirmed by relevant certificates.
In almost all regions of our vast Motherland, states also have the right to such assistance:
- disabled children;
- children of single mothers;
- orphans (left without parental care);
- children who, for whatever reason, found themselves in a difficult life situation;
- children of the liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Separately, it should be said about children who find themselves in a difficult situation. Since this concept itself is somewhat vague, it all depends on the class teacher. It is to him that the parents of the child should turn. He examines all the circumstances, draws up the necessary papers, and then transfers his findings to the department of guardianship and trusteeship. From there, in case of a positive decision, a corresponding application is sent to the school. As a rule, the school goes to a meeting. But this type of benefit is provided for only one year.
Documents for reduced price meals
It is not very difficult to collect documents for reduced price meals. Most often, their list is limited a copy of parents' passports, a copy of birth certificates and a certificate of family composition. Naturally, it is necessary to provide evidence of belonging to the privileged category. For families with many children this is a certificate of a mother or father with many children, for invalids - certificate of disability, for the poor - certificate indicating income less than the subsistence level, for those receiving survivor's pension - similarly in the case of the poor, only you will still need a certificate of death or disappearance of the breadwinner.
If you do not know where to go to get free meals for your child at school, go to the class teacher, he will help with paperwork and, perhaps, even with their delivery to the guardianship authorities.
It is best to write an application for free meals in advance. Then your child will be able to receive it from the very beginning of the school year. The benefit itself is drawn up by the social protection authorities. However, you can submit the necessary documents directly to the school.
So, a schoolchild can get free meals, but for this it is necessary to belong to one of the privileged categories and have all the necessary documents.
The Federal Law “On Education” has completely entrusted the procedure for feeding children in school institutions to these educational institutions. The developed nutritional and sanitary standards in schools must be fully observed.
However, the education law does not regulate the issue of payment for children's meals in 2019.
Are there any benefits
A complete list of documents can be obtained from the local administration, the department of social protection of the population, guardianship and guardianship authorities, and school institutions.Required documents
The list of documents is not established at the federal level, therefore for the latest information please contact the school directly.
However, there are general requirements for the formation of a package of documents. So, if a child from a large family counts on a benefit, then parents or guardians are required to provide copies of the birth certificate of each child in order to confirm the status of a large family. Poor families confirm their status with certificates of income of both parents or one parent if the family is incomplete.
If a child of disabled parents applies for the right to preferential or free food, then an appropriate medical certificate is required to be attached to the application. In this case, the application must be written by one of the parents, and not by the child himself.
Each educational institution must have a list of documents required to obtain benefits, which corresponds to the norms established at the regional level.
How to write a statement
The application must indicate the data of the child for whom it is planned to receive the benefit, the data of the parent who fills out the application, information on the basis on which the benefit is granted. The application is filled out in the name of the director or head directly from him or from the secretary of the educational institution.
Each region may have its own application form, since there is no federal established form. The current information can be found at the general education institution.
Reduced meal options
In each oblast, local governments independently set the benefit levels.
There are several options for 2019:
- free one-time meals for elementary school students;
- free two meals a day for primary school students;
- concessional two meals a day for students of any class;
- preferential one-time meals for students of any class;
- completely free meals for students living in public institutions.
Federal standards and norms in terms of school meals are not established, except for its quality and sanitary standards. Therefore, each region independently determines to whom and which option should be provided as benefits.
It is unlawful to require an educational institution to provide benefits that are not spelled out at the regional or local level.
Refunds
Some regions practice refunds to parents of funds spent on meals and breakfasts. However, such a return is made only when families fall into the privileged categories of citizens, and the standard is spelled out at the regional level.
For example, in the Voronezh region, parents or guardians receive compensation in the amount of 30% of the payment for school meals, if the family has one or two children, in the amount of 50%, if the family has three or more children.
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Free meals at school for large children. Why is it needed? The thing is that children are the guarantee of the existence and prosperity of any state. And the optimal environment for a child is a complete large family. It is the children from such families that are distinguished by their particular sensitivity and responsiveness. Unfortunately, in our difficult time, large families immediately fall into a risk group. The financial situation of many of them is poor. To support such basic units of society, certain benefits have been introduced. In particular, food benefits.
What family is considered large
Who Provides Benefits
Large Families Meal Benefits include free breakfast and / or lunch. Parents need to remember that the mechanism for supporting families with three or more children is given to regions and municipalities. So the level of benefits may be higher, but at the expense of the regional budget. Usually, the regional authorities set specific amounts that are allocated for the child's food. But it so happens that there is not enough money. Then the food is not fully compensated, but a discount of 30-70 percent is given. The rest of the amount must be paid by the parents. It is possible to attract money from other sources.
What documents are needed
There is no special bureaucracy here. In order to receive free meals for large families at school, as a rule, a passport of any of the parents, birth certificates of children and a certificate of a large family will be sufficient (sometimes a certificate of family composition is also required) ... If there are adult students of vocational education institutions in the family who have not reached the age of 23, it is also necessary to present a certificate of completion of the relevant training.
All these documents (except for certificates, they are provided in the original) must be copied. All copies and originals are attached to the application addressed to the director of the school where the child is studying. The terms of consideration of your application are set by the school administration independently, and the service, as a rule, is provided from the next month after the consideration of the application.
Free meals at school 2017-2018 - how is it organized? Who is eligible to receive it and how can I arrange food for my child? What documents are needed for this, and who can I contact with such a question? How many times a week is the child entitled to eat? All this will be discussed below.
Free baby food: what you need to know?
Currently, in our country there is no general legal act that would establish a list of children who are entitled to receive free meals at school. This issue belongs to the jurisdiction of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and is established in each region separately. Therefore, in order to find out which children can eat for free, you will need to familiarize yourself with local legislation. However, having analyzed the main regional documents, it is possible to identify general categories of young citizens who can receive meals in schools. These include:
- children from large and low-income families;
- children whose parents have 1st and 2nd disability groups;
- orphans;
- children in care.
In addition, free baby food should be received by young citizens who study in specialized educational institutions: correctional schools, boarding schools, schools with a military-patriotic bias (cadet schools). The child's diseases can also be the basis for receiving free food (delayed physical development, mental illness, chronic diseases of the kidneys, blood, respiratory system, vision, digestion and diseases, the treatment of which requires chemotherapy). Children who have lost one of their parents and receive a survivor's pension also have the right to receive food at school.
It is important to note that this list is not exhaustive. This is only general information about the categories of students who are eligible for free meals. In some regions, by decision of local authorities, the list may be expanded and a special procedure for obtaining the right to free food may be determined.
Where can I go for free meals?
The decision to provide a child with free meals is made at the school administration level. In order to obtain the right to food, parents or legal representatives of the child must write a corresponding application addressed to the head of the school institution. Based on this application, the child is added to the lists. In addition to the application, you must submit a document confirming the child's right to receive food. Such a document can be:
- family income statement,
- certificate of family composition,
- an extract from the child's personal medical record confirming the presence of a disease that gives the right to receive food, etc.
Getting free school meals in 2017-2018
In 2017-2018, free food at school can be obtained not only in its natural form, but also in the form of compensation to parents for the full cost of the food provided. At the same time, parents of children who are homeschooled also have the right to such assistance.
Unfortunately, this rule does not apply in all subjects, but this practice still takes place.
It is also important to note that if the child's right to receive free meals is due to the fact that he is studying in a specialized institution, parents do not need to write any statements. All inmates of such institutions are automatically entitled to free meals.
It should also be mentioned that, depending on the category of children eligible for free meals, it can be provided from 1 to 5-6 times a day.
So, for example, in most regions:
- junior school students have the right to eat free of charge once - for breakfast;
- lunch is added to schoolchildren from low-income families;
- all schoolchildren from socially unprotected families (regardless of age) have the right to 2 meals at school;
- students of specialized educational institutions living at the school eat 5 times a day;
- children left without parental care and living in state institutions are entitled to six meals a day.
The current Russian laws do not regulate the issue of paying for school meals - this function is now completely assigned to the school administration. At the same time, the law obliges canteens to comply in full with the established sanitary and nutritional standards. To ensure the healthy development of students, it is assumed that the menu should be balanced, comprehensive, and the food should be rich in minerals, vitamins and nutrients. Hot lunches should be provided for all students of junior and senior grades, without exception, but poor and socially unprotected families are not able to allocate money to pay for meals in canteens, and therefore they are provided with free meals at school. Let's take a look at how to get food benefits in 2019.
Types of School Meal Benefits
Schoolchildren who are eligible for a school meal benefit in the cafeteria can receive one of 3 types of benefits, the allocation of which depends on the regional budget:
- free breakfasts and lunches;
- only free breakfasts;
- discounts on payment for a set lunch.
Who can qualify for reduced price meals
To date, there are no specific criteria by which individual schoolchildren would be assigned to the privileged categories eligible for free canteen visits. This is determined at the regional level by local authorities.
To find out up-to-date information about the allocated benefits in a particular region, you can contact the regional office of the USSP.
In most cases, the beneficiaries are:
- orphans and children left without parental care;
- adopted children;
- children from large families in which 3 or more children have not reached the age of 18;
- children who have lost their mother or father and receive a survivor's pension in connection with this (read more in the article ⇒.);
- disabled children (read more in the article ⇒.);
- children whose both parents or only one parent have a disability of I or II group;
- children from poor families;
- children raised by a single parent;
- children whose parents suffered from radiation in connection with the Chernobyl accident or took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident;
- children enrolled in correctional schools.
Registration of free meals at school
School canteen meals are granted annually. Specific dates are approved by the school administration.
Today, the state allocates insufficient funds to pay for preferential school meals, and therefore even children belonging to preferential categories of students cannot always get free lunch and breakfast. The school management individually determines who should be given a benefit and who should not, based on information about the degree of need of the family. Free meals can often be denied, but the school principal or class teacher offers a discount on lunch fees.
If the family does not belong to the privileged categories of citizens who are entitled to free school meals, but the child's parents find themselves in a difficult life situation, you can contact the head of the educational institution or the student's class teacher and explain the reason why it is impossible to pay for breakfast at the moment and child's lunch.
The task of the school management in this situation is to draw up an act of checking the living and living conditions of the parents and the child, and then send it to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities of the region where the family lives. There, the request for the provision of free meals to the child will already be satisfied, or a refusal will follow. In any case, a written decision will be sent to the principal of the school.
If the decision is positive, the child will only eat in the school cafeteria without parental fees for a specified period of time not exceeding 12 months.
Required documents for registration of free meals at school
To apply for a discount for free school meals, the legal representatives of children must collect all the necessary documents, depending on whether citizens belong to one or another privileged category:
Typical mistakes
Mistake: The student's parents now have the right to free meals in the middle of the school year. The school has refused to provide free breakfast and lunch to the child on the basis that funding was determined in September.