There are several ways to import data into Aeries for Free and Reduced (FRE) NSLP records:



Districts need to determine the single source of truth for Free and Reduced (FRE) NSLP records. When the FRE data is populated in Aeries, it's best practice to decide which system is the source of truth for flagging the FRE data that will be used for reporting to CALPADS, and generally, only one should be used.


When data is imported from different sources, the data can be overwritten or updated incorrectly causing incorrect Free and Reduced (FRE) NSLP records. 


Most districts use their lunch program (i.e. Titan, Mealsplus etc.) as their single source of truth for NSLP data. If a file is imported from a Student Nutrition System, the file should be uploaded using the NSLP Import page. Additionally, if Direct Certification files will also be imported and the district is already importing their NSLP files, the Direct Certification files should be imported into their Nutrition Services software so that it's imported all together from the Nutrition Services import file using the NSLP Import.


NOTE: When syncing/uploading directly from School Nutrition Program software systems, be sure to load Direct Certification files into the Nutrition Software System directly, not into Aeries. This will allow all information to be consistent between the two systems.


CALPADS extracts has an option to skip certain source codes when extracting SPRG records. 

  • FRE.SRC codes to exclude from SPRG - allows the SPRG extract to exclude selected Free and Reduced (FRE) records with the selected Source (FRE.SRC) code. The FRE.SRC codes displayed are codes from records in the FRE table. Selecting a code will exclude the FRE record from extracting in the SPRG extract.