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htmlText_9882EF0F_8088_28B0_41CA_CC4FE54E3F6C.html = A student's Free or Reduced Lunch Status (FRL) is NOT part of an education record. FRL status has additional protections and cannot be shared through the school official expection. FRL status can only be shared with annual direct parental consent and only for the purpose(s) defined in the consent.
COPPA is a FTC regulation that governs vendors. Although this reg only governs vendors, it does have an impact on K-12. It is important to understand what data the vendor is collecting and how they are using that data. If the vendor requires parental consent for students under 12, it most likely means you will also need parental consent to share education records.
FERPA is governed by the US Deprtment of Education and provides parent rights and protection of education records. When working with online providers, it is the school's responsibility to maintain compliance through policy, procedures, practices and contracts.
IDEA is governed by the US Deprtment of Education and provides additional rights and protections to students who receive special services. IDEA includes physical characteristics as PII, adding to the definition under FERPA.
It is important to remmber that school heath records are subject to FERPA, not HIPAA. Immunization records and school nurse logs that are maintained by the educational agency are considered education records, not HIPPA records.
Knowledge about who is eligible for FRL must be strictly limited and this information cannot be made available to all school officials as a general practice.
There is a provision to allow access to those involved in administering Federal education programs, such as Title I, or for the purpose of audit and evaluation. However, that access is further limited to only those with a “need to know,” which is defined as the individual administering the program or directly providing the service. This may include a teacher providing tutoring under Title 1 but may not include the building administrator unless they are responsible for administering that specific tutoring program.
Per the Eligibility Manual, “[t]eachers, guidance counselors, principals, or other school officials who are not providing such assistance under the appropriate statutory or regulatory requirements cannot have access.” Even with appropriate authorization, NSLA clarifies that aggregate data should be used whenever possible. In addition, those who do receive the information are prohibited from disclosing it.
As a best practice, it is recommended that schools avoid sharing any non-aggregated data containing FRL status.
The LEA may disclose aggregate data to any program or requestor when individual children cannot be identified through release of the aggregate data or by means of deduction [7 CFR 245.6(f)]. An example of aggregate data is the total number of children eligible for free and reduced price meals in the school district. As aggregate data does not identify individual children, parental or guardian notification and consent are not needed. However, LEAs are cautioned about release of aggregate data when individual children’s eligibility may be deduced, such as through the release of data about a specific classroom when the number of eligible children is small.
Outside of this provision, schools must have parent consent to access and use a student's FRL status. This may make data analysis based on status incomplete or inaccurate. See the backpacks on the wall for more information about parent consent and FRL status.
Explore the office to learn more about proper de-identification, direct control when sharing information with vendors, and vetting generative AI tools.
More information about student FRL status and schools can be found in the USDA's Eligibility Manual for School Meals starting on page 83.
Online data systems must have a masking or de-identification capability to prevent unauthorized access to free and reduced price eligibility status.
LEAs are cautioned about release of aggregate data when individual children’s eligibility may be deduced, such as through the release of data about a specific classroom when the number of eligible children is small.
PPRA is governed by the US Deprtment of Education and protects students from certain surveys, provides parent the right to inspect curriculum and regulates student data used for marketing purposes. School procedures should ensure curricular and extra-curricular activities comply with PPRA.
Schools collect, share and analyze student data on a daily basis. For many schools, this data includes a student's free or reduced lunch (FRL) status.
Explore this school lunch room and adjoining meeting room to discover how schools can safely use student data and avoid common pitfalls.
More information about student FRL status and schools can be found in the USDA's Eligibility Manual for School Meals starting on page 83.
Originally created for FPF - content used under CC BY-SA 4.0
Schools may want to use a student's FRL status to provide a discount on laptop insurance, waive a technology fee or even provide internet access at home.
However, you must avoid any policy or practice leading to the overt identification of children receiving free or reduced price meal benefits. Overt identification is any action that may result in a child being recognized as potentially eligible for or certified for free or reduced price school meals.
This includes allowing those responsible for collecting fees or distributing laptops access to a student's FRL status, or even seeing that a student receives a benefit that is directly tied to FRL status.
LEAs must assure that their policy statement complies with this requirement. During an
Administrative Review, the State agency must ensure the policy statement addresses ways to
prevent overt identification.
If a school would like to offer a discount, waived fees or additional services based on a student's FRL status, the school must get annual direct parental consent.
See the backpacks on the wall for more information on parental consent and FRL status.
Schools may want to use a student's FRL status to provide weekend backpack meals, free school supplies, or other supplemental supports. Although these supports are in the best interest of the student, students are protected from having their FRL status used for any purpose other than free/reduced priced meals without direct, annual parental consent.
Schools may think that a student’s FRL status is part of their education record, and therefore can be shared within the school system as needed. However, that assumption is false. A student’s FRL status is governed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not the U.S. Department of Education, and is NOT part of the education record. If a school gets parental consent to use FRL data, that data and use is still governed by that consent and must not be used for any other purpose.
Annual parent consent must:
• be in writing
• be signed and dated
• indicate that failing to sign the consent statement will not affect eligibility
• that the information will not be shared by the receiving program with any other entity or program
• enable parents, guardians, or adult participants to limit consent to only those programs with which they wish to share information
o for example, the consent statement could use a check-off system under which the applicant would check or initial a box to indicate they want to have information disclosed to determine eligibility for benefits from a certain program
o a parent may select to use the student’s FRL status to waive fees, but not to participate in backpack meals
Schools use a large amount of student information for extra-curricular activities. This information may include directory information, such as name and grade, PII from education records, such grades to confirm eligibility, and FRL status.
Schools should train activities staff on student privacy regulations and the risks of improper disclosures including when applying and collecting fees, fundraising, or during team travel.
You may want to use a student's FRL status to waive or reduce activities fees. To do this, you must get annual direct parental consent.
See the backpacks on the wall for more information on parental consent and FRL status.
Schools are subject to many federal laws.
Take a moment to explore a few laws that apply to K-12 schools.
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and authorized by the National School Lunch Act (NSLA). The NSLA, which has stricter privacy provisions than FERPA, governs who may have access to information regarding students’ free or reduced-price lunch status and application information. This includes student and household information obtained from the eligibility application process and the student’s resulting status.
For many districts, information from the lunch program is likely to be the only source of data available to identify “economically disadvantaged” students. However, school officials who may be permitted access to this type of student information under FERPA may be denied access under the more restrictive provisions of NSLA. The NSLA strictly limits how districts may use individual student and household information obtained as part of the FRL eligibility application process once students are identified to receive program services. Districts must be diligent to ensure compliance with NSLA, as the unauthorized disclosure or improper use of students’ school lunch eligibility information may result in civil and criminal penalties.
Unless directly authorized in the NSLA or with parental consent, school staff should not have access to a student’s FRL status. As a general practice, school officials must obtain parental consent to use students’ free and reduced-price meal eligibility information and status for any purpose other than determining the households’ eligibility for free and reduced-price meals (see Section 5 of the Eligibility Manual for School Meals, 2017). This includes the use of a student's lunch status for discounted or waived fees, school supplies, special food programs, or home internet access. Even with parental consent, staff “must avoid any policy or practice leading to the overt identification of children receiving free or reduced-price meal benefits” (USDA, 2017, p. 84).
The district administrator who is responsible for making the free and reduced-price meal eligibility determination, typically the food service director, must authorize the disclosure of a student’s eligibility information.
In short, knowledge about who is eligible for FRL must be strictly limited. As a best practice, it is recommended that schools avoid sharing any non-aggregated data containing FRL status. Care should be taken to ensure that these students are not identified, either directly or indirectly, as participants in the program outside of the limited uses described above.
To navigate:
Use the W - A - S - D keys to move
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Double click any spot to move directly to that location
The green info and yellow arrow icons will assist with navigation and allow you to interact with the room content
Click the X in the top right-hand corner of text windows to close window and continue with your cafe tour
For more information about student FRL status visit