Office of Educational Services & Support

National School Lunch / School Breakfast Programs

National School Lunch

Every school day, more than 26 million children in 99,800 schools across the country eat a nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunch provided through the National School Lunch Program. More than half of these children receive the meal free or at a reduced price.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognizes the program’s national health responsibility to provide school meals that meet nutrition objectives. USDA updated the policy in the 1997 school year so that school meals would comply with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The NSLP provides cash reimbursement and commodity foods for meals served in non-profit food services in elementary and secondary schools, and in residential child care institutions. For information about the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), e-mail marlyce.micklos@state.sd.us or call (605) 773-3413. 

Menu Planning: For those schools that want to utilize a nutrient analysis as a part of their menu planning process, additional information is available from the US Department of Agriculture. A chart with information about each of the approved NSMP software programs has been posted to the web site http://schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov/Software/index.html.

School Breakfast

School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides cash reimbursement to schools for meals served, much the same as the School Lunch Program. Children eligible to receive a lunch at free or reduced price are also eligible to receive breakfast at the same rate.

The program operates in more than 72,000 schools and institutions, serving a daily average of some 7.4 million children.