All the most current resources you need to successfully operate the School Nutrition Programs are available here. TDA keeps this page updated with any new policy updates and news, including the following:

• Handbook release notices with update summaries
• Form release notices
• Brand new policy updates that have not yet been updated within the handbooks
• FAQs and other resources, as required

Please bookmark this page and check back periodically.

January 14, 2026 - New Milk Flexibilities Now Available for School Lunches
On January 14, 2026, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 was signed into law, providing new milk options and service flexibilities in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). This law modifies National School Lunch Act language that pertains only to lunches served in NSLP and does not apply to breakfasts served in the School Breakfast Program or snacks/meals served in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. TDA is awaiting further guidance about future rulemaking and application to other nutrition programs. For details on these flexibilities, see the News page here: https://squaremeals.org/News/Article-View/Article/4013/New-Milk-Flexibilities-Now-Available-for-School-Lunches


December 29. 2025 - RELEASE: Revised Excess Net Cash Resources Plan
TDA has revised and published the Excess Net Cash Resources Plan template to clarify that TDA's signature on a submitted form indicates a cursory review of the form was completed and does not reflect an approval of all procurements listed by the School Food Authority on the form. All procurement, including capital expenditure requests, must comply with federal regulations and TDA guidance.

The revised form is located on the NSLP Administration/Forms page (https://squaremeals.org/Programs/National-School-Lunch-Program/Administration-Forms).


December 17. 2025 - Increase to the Micro-purchase Threshold
On October 1, the Office of Management and Budget increased the micro-purchase threshold from $10,000 to $15,000. Effective immediately, all Contracting Entities can use this higher threshold when using the micro-purchase method of procurement. All handbooks will be updated early next year to reflect this new threshold. All other procurement requirements remain unchanged.


October 2, 2025 - RELEASE: Overview of the Latest ARM Update Released September 2, 2025 - Video Presentation
TDA has uploaded a new video presentation that will walk School Food Authorities through the most recent update to the ARM (from September 2, 2025). This update covers the specific policy updates and clarifications implemented in 16 revised sections. You can access the video here: https://youtu.be/CHkOp9Ij1so and from the list of webinars available on the NSLP Resources page.


September 2, 2025 - RELEASE: Multiple Revised ARM Sections
Several revised Administrator’s Reference Manual (ARM) sections have been posted and released as follows. Most updates were made to incorporate elements of the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and to incorporate several recently released USDA policy memos. Further general updates were made to clarify various existing ARM guidance.

Policy plans to post a pre-recorded webinar explaining the updates in this release soon and will post it on the Policy page of www.SquareMeals.org.

Guidance changes and clarifications were made to the following:

• Definitions
• Section 2, Program Application & Agreement
• Section 3, Civil Rights
• Section 4, Eligibility
• Section 7, Breakfast Meals
• Section 8, Lunch
• Section 9, Pre-Kindergarten Meals
• Section 10, Afterschool Snack
• Section 11, Summer Meals
• Section 16, Financial System
• Section 17, Procurement
• Section 17a, Procurement Procedures
• Section 19, Meal Pricing
• Section 20, Counting & Claiming
• Section 21, Meal Service
• Section 25, Meal Accommodation

Update Guide sections located at the beginning of each ARM section provide more information about the topics addressed in each release. New language is also highlighted in yellow.

You can find the ARM at
http://www.squaremeals.org/Programs/NationalSchoolLunchProgram/NSLPPolicyamp;ARM.aspx.

Please replace any previous versions of the above sections that you may have saved.


August 29, 2025 - Increase to the Formal Procurement Threshold
On September 1, 2025, in accordance with Texas Senate Bill 1173, which raises the formal procurement threshold for school districts from $50,000 to $100,000, TDA is also raising the formal procurement threshold to $100,000 for all nutrition and household programs. As such, beginning September 1, any single transaction over $10,000 but below $100,000 will require the small purchase method, and transactions of $100,000 and over will require formal procurement. TDA is in the process of updating these thresholds in all program handbooks.


UPDATE - August 15, 2025 - Release of USDA Foods Rate of Assistance
On August 15, USDA published the USDA Foods Rate of Assistance for School Year 2025-2026. Even though the Cash-in-lieu value of donated foods increased by half a penny to $0.3050, the overall rate of assistance of $0.45 remains unchanged from SY 2024-2025.


July 17, 2025 - Guidance on Fees for Electronic Payment Services in the School Meal Programs
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service released SP 18-2025, Guidance on Fees for Electronic Payment Services in the School Meal Programs. Effective immediately, this memorandum rescinds SP 04-2025, Fees for Electronic Payment Services in the School Meal Programs, which was issued on November 1, 2024. The rescinded memo had previously issued a requirement to eliminate service fees for students using an online system to purchase reduced-price meals by School Year 2027-2028. While that requirement has been rescinded, this memo clarifies that any School Food Authority using a system charging additional service fees for purchased meals must also offer a free and accessible method for all families to add money to student meal accounts. SFAs must notify families of available payment options and any associated fees in ways that are easy to find and understand.

this memo also provides best practices for increasing the awareness of payment options and strategies for reducing or eliminating online fees. more information can be found here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/schoolmeals/guidance-fees-electronic-payment-services


July 17, 2025 - Guidance on the Interpretation of Discrimination Based on “Sex” in USDA Child Nutrition Programs
USDA has rescinded the May 2022 Bostock policy update that sought to require federally-funded food and nutrition service programs to redefine discrimination by reason of “sex” under title ix of the education amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (FNA) as not based on just male or female, but also “gender identity.” While an official updated nondiscrimination statement has not been issued by USDA, Contracting Entities should update electronic resources and any newly printed materials to reflect the version of the NDS available on Squaremeals. TDA will continue to provide guidance on any further updates to the NDS. More information is available here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/guidance-discrimination-sex

• Texas Administrative Code, 4.1: General Procedures
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.25: Special Nutrition Programs
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.26: Food and Nutrition Division
• Texas Administrative Code, 4.26.E: Appeal Procedures for F&N

The USDA interactive Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) allows CEs to search creditable food items for food yield information to help determine the specific contribution each food item makes towards a reimbursable meal in all Child Nutrition Programs. It also provides useful tools, such as the Recipe Analysis Workbook and the Product Formulation Statement Workbook. In addition, with yield data for more than 2,100 food items, this guide provides ideas for adding new foods or new versions of familiar foods to your menus. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize that a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains, especially dark green and red/orange vegetables and whole grains, are key elements of a healthful diet.

Contracting entities may also use the following resources to assist in ensuring that meals meet program requirements for reimbursement:

• USDA’s Exhibit A: Grain Requirements for Child Nutrition Programs for crediting grains.
• The Food Buying Guide Calculator for Child Nutrition Programs, an app-based calculator developed by USDA’s Team Nutrition and the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN), to determine how much of each item to purchase to provide the number of servings needed.

NOTE: Contents of all Food Buying Guide Supplements previously found on this page have been incorporated into the FBG. Requests for copies of archived Food Buying Guide Supplements can be emailed to FNDPolicy@Texasagriculture.gov. In the subject of the email, list the full name of the Food Buying Guide Supplement requested.

HB 1305—Breakfast Mandate
Starting with School Year 2015-2016, public and charter schools that are mandated to offer breakfast may operate a locally funded breakfast program in lieu of the federally funded School Breakfast Program. 

School districts or charter schools may have schools that operate the School Breakfast Program and other schools that operate a locally funded breakfast program. In these cases, the school district or charter school must fully fund its locally funded breakfast program from resources other than the Child Nutrition Program. 

Locally funded breakfast programs are eligible for state compensatory funding. Please note state compensatory funding is administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

HB 3562—Charge Policy
If a school district allows students to use prepaid meal cards or accounts to purchase school meals, the district must establish a grace period during which a student is able to charge meals after the prepaid funds are exhausted.  

The school district must also notify the student’s parent or guardian that the student’s meal card or account balance is exhausted. The district is not allowed to charge a fee or interest in connection with meals purchased by the students during the grace period. When the school district notifies the student’s parent or guardian that the student has a negative balance, the district may set a repayment schedule for the meal charges.