20-A M.R.S. §6601-A: Free or reduced-price school meals; Internet-based school meal applications

The department shall contract for the development and implementation of an Internet-based application for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program under 7 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 210 and the School Breakfast Program under 7 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 220. The department shall make available to public schools the Internet‑based application for free or reduced-price meals developed under this section on the department's publicly accessible website. The department shall make the Internet-based application in an understandable and uniform format and, to the maximum extent practicable, in a language that parents and legal guardians can understand. A public school may make the Internet-based application available for school meal applications on the public school's publicly accessible website. All public schools shall continue to distribute paper applications for school meals to all students. A public school is solely responsible for processing that school's online applications. Data submitted through the Internet-based application may not be visible to the department and must be transmitted directly to the applicable public school. All public schools shall accept data submitted through the Internet-based application.