Steps to Complete the School Year 2018-19 PLE Tool · GOALS OF THIS PRESENTATION TO DISCUSS: •The...

Paid Lunch Equity (PLE)Steps to Complete the School Year

2018-19 PLE Tool

GOALS OF THIS PRESENTATION

TO UNDERSTAND:

• Purpose of the Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) tool

• Which School Food Authorities (SFAs) are responsible for completing PLE tool

• When SFAs should complete the PLE tool

• Steps for completion of tool

• Options to utilize when a price increase is necessary

Louisiana Believes 2

GOALS OF THIS PRESENTATION

TO DISCUSS:

• The PLE Exemption (for SY 2018-19 only) available to any SFA that had a positive or zero balance in its nonprofit School Food Service (SFS) Account as of January 31, 2018 – as per memo SFS-18-70.

• SFAs wishing to elect this exemption must – via their 2018-19 SFS Online Application – indicate whether it is their intent to utilize this exemption, reporting the January 31st balance of the nonprofit SFS account should they elect to utilize this flexibility.


2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act

• Per Section 776 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141) (the Act), Congress provides that only school food authorities (SFAs) that had a negative balance in the nonprofit SFS account as of January 31, 2018, shall be required to establish prices for paid lunches according to the PLE provisions in Section12 (p) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. 1760(p) and implemented in NSLP Regulations at 7 CFR Part 210.14(e).


BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF PLE TOOL

• Regulations at 7 CFR 210.14(e) require SFAs participating in the NSLP to ensure sufficient funds are provided to the nonprofit SFS account for meals served to students not eligible for Free or Reduced price meals.

• Should the tool indicate that paid lunch prices are not in compliance with PLE requirements for the new year, action will need to be taken by the SFA.


WHO MUST COMPLETE THE PLE TOOL ON AN ANNUAL BASIS?

• Any (public, charter or private) school system that collects and processes F/R meal applications (note: this includes both non-CEP and partial-CEP districts/school systems).

• Any residential child care institute (RCCI) that has “day students” enrolled in their system, along with their residential students.


WHO IS EXEMPT FROM THE PLE TOOL?

• Any (public, charter or private) school system that participates in CEP on a district/system-wide basis (all schools).

• Any RCCI without day students.

• Additionally, for SY 2018-19 only, any school system (or RCCI with day students) that is able to demonstrate that it had a positive or zero balance in its nonprofit SFS account as of January 31, 2018.


WHO IS EXEMPT FROM THE PLE TOOL?

• While SFAs that meet the Act’s criteria are exempt from the PLE requirements, SFAs still maintain the discretion to complete the steps necessary to determine their target SY 2018-19 paid lunch price, consistent with Program regulations at 7 CFR 210.14(e) and adjust their paid meal prices accordingly, should they choose.


WHEN SHOULD THE PLE TOOL BE COMPLETED?

• Preferably, the PLE tool should be completed for the upcoming school year (SY) at the end of the current year.

• This allows ample time for the district to determine how it will proceed in the upcoming SY if the tool shows that paid lunch prices are not sufficient. The district may then:

• A) Increase the paid student price for meals in the upcoming SY

• B) Keep paid student prices the same, but contribute non-Federal funding to cover the difference owed to SFS (difference meaning the cost to produce the meal LESS the sum of the paid meal price & paid Federal Reimbursement rec’d] )

• C) Use a combination of the options above


PLEASE NOTE THAT…

• If the PLE tool shows that the current paid status meal charge is not sufficient and the district wishes to cover this by increasing meal charges in the upcoming SY…...

• A district is never required to increase the paid lunch charge by more than $0.10 (i.e. at each price point) in any given year.

• This is true even if the tool indicates that paid meal charges are more than $0.10 lower than they should be (i.e. charging $1.25 and should be charging $1.50). We’ll cover this in an example shortly.



WHERE CAN THE PLE TOOL BE FOUND?

Home page: http://cnp.doe.louisiana.gov

To the right of the log-in area, scroll to the “SFS” area and access the most current SY 2018-19 PLE tool to determine if prices are sufficient for the 18-19 SY.

Access the tool (Excel file) and then save to a secure location (i.e. jump drive, desktop)

prior to working in the file. Save often. Keep on file for required timeframe.

http://cnp.doe.louisiana.gov/

Completing the PLE ToolREQUIRED ITEMS

Please note: If you have a laptop/tablet on hand, we encourage you access the SY 2018-19 PLE Tool (from the CNP home page) in

order to follow along as we navigate through examples and various tabs within the PLE tool.

REQUIRED ITEMS

• To complete the 2018-19 PLE tool, the SFA will need the following information at a minimum (more info may be needed pending on outcome):

1. Weighted average price * from SY 2010-11 –

if only one paid lunch price was charged for all grades and/or schools in the

district, then that price is the weighted average price

2. Paid lunch price(s) for 2017-18 SY

3. Number of paid lunches claimed in October 2017 by price point (EXCLUDING any school that participated in CEP at the time)


* If the SFA charged multiple paid lunch prices in the 2010-11 SY, additional information will be needed in order to calculate the weighted average price

OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY BE NEEDED

• If the PLE tool shows that a price increase is needed, the SFA may:

1. increase price in the upcoming year, or

2. keep paid prices the same and contribute non-Federal funds, or

3. do a combination of the two.

• If OPTION #2 is selected, the following details will also be needed:

• Annual number of Paid Lunches claimed in the entire 2016-17 SY (regardless of price point)

• Total (combined) amount of Non-Federal Source Funds contributed to SFS from the 2011-12 SY through the 2017-18 SY (i.e. excess MFP monies, general fund deposits, donations, profits from the sale of extra sales, etc.)


QUICK REMINDER

• How do I navigate CNP website to display prior year information (I.E. Prior-year paid lunch price(s) and/or claim data)?

1. When logged in to CNP, and under the green School Food Service (SFS) tab, click on Claims

2. Then, click on view claims

3. Without accessing any particular claim month in the current year, click on the drop down displaying the current year and select the program year that you wish to view (i.e. SY 2018 for 2017-18 information or SY 2011 for 2010-11 information)


SIDE BAR !

Once the appropriate year has been selected, you can:

❑ View any claim filed from that year by clicking on the appropriate month OR

❑ Can click on “Forms” to review the price information on the Schedule A from the year that you have selected

ABC Parish SB

Example # 1SFA that traditionally charges one set price for paid status lunches across the district

SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT CHARGES ONE SET PRICE FOR PAID LUNCH (ALL GRADES)

• School system details:➢Single- site SFA

➢Grade structure: K-12

➢Charged $2.50 per paid status lunch (all grades) – in SY 17-18

• Other details needed for completion of PLE tool (at a minimum):• Paid lunch price from SY 2010-11 – per the SY 2011 Schedule A, this was $2.50

• Paid lunch price from SY 2017-18 – as indicated above

• Number of ‘paid lunches’ claimed in October 2017 by price point - from claim, determined to be 5,273 (remember, that in this scenario, there is only one price point utilized by the school system in SY 2010-11 and in SY 2017-18; therefore, this example will be the more simplistic of the examples provided)


EXAMPLE 1

Let’s begin the SY 2018-19 PLE Tool…


OPEN PLE TOOL

(SY 2018-19) AND BEGIN

WITH UNROUNDED

REQUIREMENT FINDER

The PLE Tool now has a customizable field for SFA name

Can access it by clicking the link from the “Instructions” tab or by clicking directly

on the tab labeled“Unrounded Requirement Finder”


• SFAs with a complete & accurate prior year (SY 2017-18) PLE tool on file can begin the tool with Step 1; however, it is encouraged to start from the very beginning as to not duplicate any potential errors previously made.

Recommended to begin here, by entering the weighted paid lunch price

from SY 2010-11 (which was $2.50 in our example)

FIRST PLE TAB: UNROUNDED

REQUIREMENT FINDER

If starting with Step 1,

data is needed

from previous

year’s PLE tool (SY 17-18

unrounded price

requirement)

to proceed


• Once paid lunch price from SY 2010-11 is entered, hit the enter key.• Remember that when there is only one

single price established for all paid lunches in a district, the paid lunch price is equal to the weighted average price.

• This provides you with the value that needs to be keyed in the peach-colored box in Step 1.


REQUIREMENT FINDERThe $2.86 auto populated from

the third box below gets

entered in the top peach-colored box

START HERE


REQUIREMENT FINDER


• Next, enter the figure that populated under the “Price 2” column ($2.86) into the Step 1 table and press the enter key once more

• The next tab is the “SY 18-19 Price Calculator” tab

$2.86 has been entered into Step 1 box and “enter” key has been pressed

Now that this page is fully populated, proceed to next tab.

NEXT, ENTER INFORMATION

HERE


NEXT PLE TAB: SY 18-19 PRICE CALCULATOR

• Next, the system will need to input the following item and then hit the enter key:

• Paid lunch price for SY 17-18 (can be accessed by viewing Schedule A in SY 2018)

• Total paid lunches claimed in October 2017 (accessed by viewing SY 2018 claims and targeting October 2017)

We’ll cover an example where the

system charges more than 1 paid

price shortly

NEXT, WE WILL MOVE TO THE “SY 18-19 PRICE CALCULATOR” TAB


• In this particular example, after inputting the # of meals claimed in October 2017and the paid lunch price in SY 2017-18, the following displayed below the entry:

• This shows that the school system is notcharging enough to cover the cost of paid lunch prices (through reimbursement and money received from students).

Remember, that although the tool shows that the system

should be charging $0.40 moreper lunch, the system is only requiredto make a $0.10 increase in any given SY to remain in compliance with PLE.

NEXT PLE TAB: SY 18-19 PRICE CALCULATOR


• After completing the SY 2018-19 Price Calculator tab, the SFA finds that it is currently not charging enough for paid meals (@ $2.50).

• In this example, the system wishes to increase the paid lunch prices (to $2.60) in the upcoming SY in order to meet PLE requirements

SY 18-19 PRICE CALCULATOR TAB

If increasing paid price,

skip to 2017-18 REPORT


• This SFA wishes to achieve compliance with PLE requirements in SY 2018-19 by increasing its paid lunch price. To finalize the PLE Tool in this example, the SFA need only complete the SY 2018-19 Report.

• Therefore, in the appropriate dropdown feature (under section 2), the SFA will select that it has chosen to “increase (its) SY 2018-19 average weighted price”.

• In the SFA’s Online SY 2018-19 Schedule A form, it must now report the new paid lunch price of $2.60.

FINAL TAB: SY 2018-2019

REPORT


SY 2018-19 PLE TOOL EXAMPLE 1

• The PLE tool is considered complete for this system once the file is saved and maintained for 3 years + the current school year.

• It is recommended to print out the entire document and keep the hard copy on file as well.

In this particular example, since the

school system only went up the required $0.10

(and not the full $0.40), the system should expect the tool to

require action again when completed for

SY 2019-20.


• Had no action been needed by the SFA for the upcoming SY, the “SY 18-19 Price Calculator” (2nd tab completed) would have displayed the following message in the gray “required price increase for SY 2018-10)” box:

• NO PRICE INCREASE NECESSARY

In this instance, the SFA could have then proceeded directly to the “SY 2018-19 Report” tab to finalize the tool to reflect that no price

changes are required in the upcoming SY.

SIDE BAR!

WHAT IF THE PLE TOOL HAD SHOWED THAT NO ACTION WAS NEEDED (THAT PRICES WERE

SUFFICIENT)?


The tool could have then been saved and considered

complete for the upcoming SY.

WHAT IF THE PLE TOOL HAD SHOWED

THAT NO ACTION WAS NEEDED

(THAT PRICES WERE SUFFICIENT)?

SIDE BAR!

• Had no further action been needed/ price was deemed sufficient as currently set, then the tool would be considered complete after the “SY 2018-19 Report” tab was accessed and the response as listed below was input:

• AT OR ABOVE EQUITY

Example # 2SFA that charges multiple set prices

for paid status lunches across the district

We’ll now review a more complicated example, where the SFA charges different paid meal prices

pending on grade level.

SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT CHARGES TWOPRICE POINTS FOR PAID LUNCH

• School system details:➢Multi-site SFA

➢Paid student lunch charge for Elementary - $1.40 *

➢Paid student lunch charge for Middle/HS - $1.50 *

• Other details needed for completion of PLE tool (at a minimum):• Paid lunch prices from SY 2010-11 – from SY 2011 Schedule A

(was $1.20 for Elementary and $1.30 for middle/HS students)

• Paid lunch price from SY 2017-18 – from SY 2018 Schedule A (see above)*

• Number of ‘paid lunches’ claimed in October 2017 by price point -total obtained from claim but SFA will also need SFS-7/Participation Reports (more steps required with multiple price points)


EXAMPLE 2

In SY 17-18


AGAIN, WE WILL OPEN THE PLE TOOL

(SY 18-19) AND BEGIN

WITH UNROUNDED

REQUIREMENT FINDER

User may click on either tab.


TAB 1: UNROUNDED REQUIREMENT FINDER TAB

• SFAs with a prior year (SY 2017-18) PLE tool on file can begin the tool with Step 1; however, it is encouraged to start from the very beginning as to not duplicate any potential errors previously made.

Recommended to begin here.

In example 1, we were able to simply report the one price ($2.50 ) charged

to paying students in SY 10-11. However, in this scenario, since the

system charged two different prices in SY 2010-11, we don’t automatically know the ‘weighted’ average price.

Click here

If starting with Step 1, data is needed from previous year’s PLE tool


NEW TAB: SY 2010-11 PRICE

CALCULATOR • To determine the 2010-11 Weighted Average Price, we must complete this table. This table requires:

• Paid lunches claimed in October 2010 by district at each price point

• The Oct 2010 claim can give you the total number of paid meals claimed; however, it cannot give you the breakdown by price point. For that, SFS-7 reports are needed.?

This SFA charged $1.20 (Elem) and $1.30 (Mid/HS) for paid

lunches in SY 2010-11.


NEW TAB: SY 2010-11 PRICE

CALCULATOR

Oct 2010

1.20 1.30

#1 of 5 total

Some districts will only have this October 2010 data manually filed;

others will have electronic versions. Total reimbursable paid

student lunches served for this month (October 2010) by price

point (i.e. total sold at $1.20 and at $1.30) at all schools needs to

be tallied.Total by price point by school. Then

sum by each price point for district.

If the district has this data electronically, the totals by price point can easily

be tallied/ retrieved.


NEW TAB: SY 2010-11 WEIGHTED

AVERAGE PRICE• To SFA determines the following:

• In October 2010, 3,990 lunches were sold at $1.20 and3,739 lunches were sold at $1.30 to paid students.

• This is entered into the 10-11 weighted average price table which then provides us with the value that is needed to complete the first tab that we began working on.


RETURN TO:UNROUNDED

REQUIREMENT FINDER• Begin with bottom box:

➢ Enter the value obtained ($1.25) from the SY 2010-11 Weighted Average Price tab (displayed on last slide) into the bottom table (peach box)

➢ Hit enter.

• Complete “Step 1” box:➢ Transfer the number that appears

in the last yellow box on the bottom right ($1.67) to the top table in the peach box.

➢ Hit enter.

This tab is now complete. Proceed to SY 18-189Price

Calculator.

$1.25 is entered into peach-colored field in

the bottom table. Hit enter key.

Step 2The pre-populated

dollar value ($1.67) from the Price 2 area

(in bottom table) must be entered into the

peach-colored top box in Step 1. Hit enter key.


• The system will now need to enter the number of paid lunches claimed by price point in October 2017.

• This will be determined the same way that the October 2010 meals data, by price point, was determined using both the claims and SFS-7 participation report data.

➢ We have entered the information in for October 2017 in this screenshot by price point ($1.40 and $1.50).

We then scroll down the page to see what the tool

determines.

PROCEED TO:SY 18-19 PRICE CALCULATOR


• The PLE tool shows that the district is presently not charging enough to paying students (@ $1.40 for Elem and $1.50 for middle/HS students).

• Decision must now be made as to whether the district will elect to: a) increase SY 18-19 paid lunch price, b) keep prices the same and contribute non-Federal funds to meet compliance, or c) a combo

• The district elects to contribute non-Federal funding to meet compliance.

We will now proceed to the SY 18-19 NonFederalCalculator to complete

the tool.

SY 17-18 PRICE CALCULATOR

Needed for next tab in tool


• Step 1➢ Enter the SY 2017-18

weighted average paid price from last slide (that was circled in red/yellow)

• Step 2➢ Enter the ‘total’ number of

paid lunches claimed over the course of the 2016-17 SY (without regard to price point)

To obtain, the SFA will need to access all 16-17 SFS claims (through CNP website or software) and combine each month’s total number of paid lunches into a annualized total (excluding data from any schools that were using CEP at the time)

NEW TAB:SY 18-19 NONFEDERAL

CALCULATOR

Step 2Enter grand total of paid

lunches claimed in SY

2016-17 EXCLUDING

data from CEP schools

(if applicable)

Step 1$1.43 is

entered into the first peach-colored box in

this tab.


SY 18-19 NONFEDERAL CALCULATOR

This can include: state funds provided to CNP, excess MFP dollars (above the required 12.5%) ,

donations, etc.

• With the completion of the steps taken on the previous slide, the SFA should now be able to determine the full amount owed to SFS to cover paid status meals.See red circled area.

• Step 3➢ Enter the combined,

non-Federal source funds contributed to the district from SY 2011-12 through SY 2017-18 (inclusive of start and end years listed in this range).


SY 17-18 NONFEDERAL CALCULATOR

Proceed to SY 2018-2019 Report

• In this particular scenario, the district had enough excess non-Federal funding from prior school years to fully cover the balance needed for paid meals.

• The district chose to not increase meal prices in the upcoming SY and will not need to contribute any further funding than the excess already available from years 2011-12 through 2017-18.


FINAL TAB: SY 2018-2019 REPORT

• The last step is to access the SY 2018-2019 Report tab and to select (in the peach drop down box) the option that the district utilized.

• In example 2, this district opted to “contribute non-Federal (carry-over) sources for SY 2018-19”

• The PLE tool is now complete. The SFA must save the data on file for the current year + 3 years following.

TO RECAP

43Louisiana Believes

• In the first example covered, the SFA charged a single price point for all grades. After entering the required data into the 2018-19 SY PLE Tool, it was determined that the paid lunch price (which remained at $2.50 since SY 2010-11) was not sufficient. The SFA elected to increase its paid lunch price for the upcoming SY by the minimum amount required ($0.10), rather than assessing a large price increase from one SY to the next.

• This SFA is now in compliance with its SY 2018-19 PLE requirements.

• The PLE tool will need to be completed again prior to the SY 2019-20 SY to determine action needed for compliance in that new year.

TO RECAP


• In the second example covered, the SFA charged two price points, pending on grade level (lower price for Elementary students and a higher price for Middle/HS students). After entering the required data into the 2018-19 PLE Tool, it was determined that the paid lunch prices were not sufficient. Rather than increasing paid lunch prices in the upcoming SY, the SFA elected to cover the difference through use of non-Federal funding keeping the paid lunch prices unchanged for the coming SY. This SFA is now in compliance with its SY 2018-19 PLE requirements.

• This SFA will also need to complete the SY 2019-20 PLE tool prior to the start of that school year to determine any actions needed.

PLEASE BE REMINDED OF THE FOLLOWING


1. If your district charged more than one price point for paid lunches in SY 2010-11 and/or SY 2017-18, you will need to access SFS-7 (participation reports) from October of that SY to complete the tool. Districts will not be able to properly complete the tool without this information separated out (# paid meals claimed by price point).

2. If your district partially participated in CEP in SY 2017-18, you will need to ensure that you EXCLUDE any paid meals that may have been claimed at CEP-participating schools from the information reported under the “SY 18-19 Price Calculator” tab (for Oct 2017).



The tool will indicate one of two outcomes after completion of the first two tabs (Unrounded Requirement Finder and SY 18-19 Price Calculator):

A) No price increase necessary (in gray box)B) That action is needed to achieve compliance.

Indication of this will be provided under the blue “total price increase for SY 2018-19” box in the form of the dollar value needed to be applied.



If the tool shows that the SFA must take action to be in compliance with PLE requirements, options could include:

A) Increasing paid lunch prices for the new SY, as specified by the tool (but not by more than 0.10 even if more of an increase is warranted)

B) Keeping prices the same and, instead, contributing non-Federal funds to achieve compliance (this requires completion of the SY 18-19 NonFederal Calculator tab)

C) A combination of items A & B (requires completion of the SY 18-19 Split Calculator)

IN ALL CASES, THE TOOL IS NOT “COMPLETE” UNTIL THE FOLLOWING IS ADDRESSED:


• The SY 2018-19 Report Tab must be completed by all SFAs that are required to complete the SY 18-19 PLE Tool, regardless of outcome indicated by the tool (I.E. At Compliance vs. Action Needed to achieve compliance)

• In the drop-down box available on that tab, SFAs must indicate outcome by selecting the appropriate response out of the available options:

→ Increase SY 2018-2019 Average Weighted Price→ Contribute Non-Federal sources for SY 2018-2019→ Both→ At or above equity→ Exemption Granted

RECAP OF PLE TOOL PRESENTATION


• The PLE tool is required annually for school systems that process F/R meal applications (even if only at a select number of schools). However, please be reminded of the flexibility in place for SY 2018-19 ONLY for those SFAs that can demonstrate a positive or zero balance in their nonprofit SFS account as of 1/31/18.

• The PLE tool will provide guidance to systems who must complete the tool on whether paid meal charges are:

• Sufficient for the upcoming SY

• Insufficient for the upcoming SY in which case the district may elect to:➢ Increase the paid lunch price for the upcoming SY➢ Keep paid lunch price “as is” and, instead, contribute non-Federal funding

to cover the cost➢ Do a combination of options 1 and 2 (most districts elect option 1 or 2 and

not the combination.)

Please call LDOE should you need any questions answered or further guidance on the PLE Tool.

Steps to Complete the School Year 2018-19 PLE Tool · GOALS OF THIS PRESENTATION TO DISCUSS: •The...

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Transcript of Steps to Complete the School Year 2018-19 PLE Tool · GOALS OF THIS PRESENTATION TO DISCUSS: •The...