School Nutrition News

July 2022 Updates for VCS Staff

Students must pay for school meals.

For the past two years, we have operated under federal pandemic waivers, one of which allowed us to serve free meals to all students. This waiver expired on June 30 and Congress did not extend it. Please help us communicate that students need to pay for meals as we return to normal operations. Families needing help should complete a free and reduced price meal application through Skyward or they can print and complete a paper application in English or Spanish here.

Please print a few applications and the parent letter with instructions to have on hand.

How to pay for meals

We anticipate much more cash handling now that meals are no longer free. Parents can deposit money in their child's account online using RevTrak (small fee 3.62% applies). Parents can send in checks or cash, too, but payment must be attached to a Prepayment Voucher.

Please keep these available in the school office.

Charge Policy

The board approved charge policy was included as a part of registration.

Elementary: Students may charge breakfast and lunch meals only. Extra milk must be paid for with funds in their account and cannot be charged. Collection of negative balances is pursued by our office. We never discuss financial information with elementary children.

Middle: Students may charge two lunches, not breakfast or snacks and beverages. Once students reach the charge limit, they will be provided with a small pbj and milk to prevent hunger.

High School: There is NO charging allowed at VHS. Students without money will be provided with a small pbj and milk to prevent hunger.

Parents of students with a negative account balance will receive a weekly call/text/email.

**Parents have the option of receiving a low account balance reminder before their child's account goes negative. They must select/deselect this email preference in Family Access under My Account.**

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The supply chain is expected to worsen in the food industry. Last minute menu changes will happen. In order to keep nutrition information current for school nurses, parents, staff and students, we use digital menus. Menus can be viewed online at www.myschoolmenus.com or by downloading the free app. Please take a quick tour of the site. There are very useful tools for parents to help with decision making like sorting menu items by allergen, building carb counts, etc. Are you interested to know how many calories are in certain items? Please take a quick tour!

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New at Elementary Schools

Students will have a roasted turkey and cheese deli sandwich option instead of the daily entree. The sandwich meal includes milk, veggies and fruit sides. This whole grain sandwich can be easily customized to accommodate vegetarians (no turkey) or dairy allergies (no cheese). During our pilot at the end of last year, these were very popular!

Field Trips

It is critical that Cafe Managers receive notice of field trips at least two weeks in advance so they can order food and supplies on hand and adjust production. While we know our staff is pretty miraculous and magical, they cannot control supply chain disruption. Your help is needed in setting deadlines.

Middle School Challenge

Every year cafeteria lines move slowly for the first few days of school. Students, especially 6th grade, must know their ID to enter into the keypad. Communicating this to parents and students early can afford some time to practice. Additionally, handling money for deposit during lunch will also slow the lines. Encouraging online payments can help.

Food Allergies

Parents must complete an Allergy Action Plan with the school nurse. The nurse will then enter a "wanding message" in Skyward which will pop up on the point of sale register in the cafeteria. A Dietary Prescription Plan signed by a medical authority is needed before we can make any menu accommodations.

Volunteers needed.

Staffing struggles continue to plague the entire food service industry, including here. We have successfully worked with volunteers to be "Celebrity Servers," especially at Flint Lake and Heavilin. Do you know anyone wanting to help? Check out our guide below or call Ashley at 5342.

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SN Volunter Guide.pdf

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