Prekindergarten Eligibility – Educationally Disadvantaged
Overview
Statute: TEC §29.153 (b)(2), TEC §5.001(4), & 42 USC, §1758
Resources:
• Student Attendance and Accounting Handbook (SAAH)
Section 7.2.3
• Texas Department of Agriculture: Administrator’s Reference Manual
o ARM’s section description chart (table of contents)
o Section 4 Eligibility Determination
o Section 6 Verification
• USDA Food and Nutrition Services Eligibility Manual for School Meals: Determining and Verifying
Eligibility
Contact: District Nutrition Specialist or the Texas Department of Agriculture
Definitions
Educationally Disadvantaged: Any student considered educationally disadvantaged is eligible to receive free
pre-k. The TEC, §5.001(4)
, defines “educationally disadvantaged” as “eligible to participate in the national free
or reduced-price lunch program.”
Household: A household is defined as a group of related or unrelated individuals who are not residents of an
institution or boarding house but who are living as one economic unit. This means they generally reside in the
same house and share expenses such as rent, utilities and food.
Income: Gross income to be reported is any money received on a recurring basis. Specifically, it means all
money earned before any deductions (i.e. income taxes, social security taxes, insurance premiums, bonds, &
charitable contributions).
For further explanation of definitions (and examples) please review the Administrator’s Reference Manual
FAQs
page.
Eligibility Options
Income Level
Eligibility may be based on total income and size (i.e., number of household members) of a participant’s
household. Children from households whose incomes are at or below the levels shown in the appropriate table
are eligible for the national school lunch program. The table can also be found on this web page.
Prekindergarten Eligibility – Educationally Disadvantaged
The Texas Department of Agriculture provides a tool for households to enter income information and
determine if the household qualifies for meals before applying. That tool is available
at: SquareMeals.org/AmIEligible
For information about determining a student’s eligibility based on income, please view the Administrator’s
Reference Manual (ARM), Section 4 Eligibility Determination.
Automatic Eligibility
Children who are automatically eligible for the NSLP under criteria in federal law 42 USC, §1758
include the
following:
• a child who is a member of a household receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, Food Distribution
Program on Indian Reservations, State Medicaid programs, or similar income-tested programs
or other source of information, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture (42 USC, §1758f
)
• a child who is an eligible participant in Head Start or Even Start
• a child who is considered a migrant child
• a child who is considered homeless
• a child who is considered a runaway
• a child who is a foster child
For exact definitions of the terms used in the previous paragraph see 42 USC, §1758
.
Documentation
A district must verify and document that a student is considered “educationally disadvantaged” either because
the student’s family income level meets requirements for participation in the NSLP or because of automatic
eligibility for the NSLP.
For information about the appropriate documentation necessary for both eligibility options, please view the
Administrator’s Reference Manual (ARM), Section 6 Verification of Eligibility
Key Points
• A student remains eligible for an entire school year. For example, a student who qualifies for
prekindergarten because the student is eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program
(educationally disadvantaged) remains eligible even if the family's annual income increases above the
qualifying level during the school year.
• Qualifying for prekindergarten on the basis of being educationally disadvantaged means that a student
is eligible to participate in the NSLP, even if the family opts not to participate.
• Many districts pre-register pre-k students to determine and plan for the size of the next school year’s
pre-k program. Since income level documentation must be current, your district must verify income
level documentation on or after April 1 of each school year. When verifying income, districts should
correlate the eligible school year with the qualifying NSLP year.
• If a student qualifies for pre-k on the basis of being eligible to participate in the NSLP, and the student
then moves to a new district, the new district should review the previous district’s determination for
accuracy. If the determination was accurate, the student does not need to requalify for the pre-k
program in the new district. If an error was made, the student must requalify for the pre-k program in
the new district.
