CHILD NUTRITION SERVICES

Summer Learning and 2021-2022 School Year

Meal Services Guide for Parents

We all know that when a student is hungry, it is very difficult for them to concentrate and learn. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, CNS expanded its operations to include various in-school service formats, curbside services and Big Bus Food Truck meal distribution in neighborhoods to meet the varied needs of students and children in our community.

At this time, it has been recommended that meal services return to pre-pandemic operations. In most schools, this means that students may go through the serving line to choose items for a complete breakfast or lunch. When students go through the serving line, they will be able to purchase a la carte items, including individual menu items, beverages, and snacks. Use of a pre-payment account is encouraged for a la carte purchases. 

A special federal funding provision has made it possible for Child Nutrition Services to continue to provide a daily free breakfast and lunch to all students through June 2022. A minimum number of items are required for the meal to be served at no-cost to the student. Meals will be available at no cost to all students learning on school campuses, as well as those in Virtual Academy through our curbside services.

The goal of Child Nutrition Services is to provide nutritious meals with quality service to positively contribute to the academic success of all students.School administrators and CNS staff will be working together to transition to pre-pandemic operations while ensuring the safety of students and staff.

We look forward to serving your students this summer and in the 2021-2022 school year! 

Table of Contents

Summary of Meal Services

Curbside Service

Meals and Menus

Special Diets

Meal Prices and Applying for Meal Benefits

Prepayments

Donations, Refunds, and Monetary Transfers

Summary of Meal Services

• Meals will be free for all students through June 2022. Breakfast and lunch will be available at no cost for all students when attending school for in-person instruction and when learning remotely.
• Students may choose their items on the serving line, and must choose a minimum number of items to qualify as a complete meal that can be provided at no cost. Signs and instructions from CNS staff will guide students on how to choose a complete meal.
• When students bring their own meal from home, they may take a milk, fruit, and vegetable for free from the serving line. Students must take all three items in order for items to be free, otherwise they may pay a la carte prices for each individual item.
• Students will have the option to purchase a la carte items. This includes menu items from the serving line, as well as beverages and snacks. Funding a pre-payment account is highly encouraged to speed service through the serving line.

• Meals will continue to be served at curbside feeding locations listed at wcpss.net/food for Virtual Academy students and children in our community that are age 18 and under.  

• Meals are limited to one breakfast and one lunch per student/child per day.  
• Students do not need to provide their student ID at curbside to receive meals.
• Meals will be served on weekdays except for days designated as a holiday on the student calendar.
• Select sites may serve weekly meal bundles. Any updates to curbside meal service will be posted at wcpss.net/food
• Curbside service for Virtual Academy learners in the 2021-2022 school year is planned to occur from 11:45 to 12:45 at select locations that will be determined in late summer.
• Families should complete this form to indicate the location where they will be picking up meals, and designate a responsible person to pick up meals for their child.

Meals and Menus

Our menus will continue to feature student favorites, and provide the protein, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables that are important ingredients in a nutritious meal. All food and beverages will be served following guidance from WCPSS, NCDHHS, USDA, and NCDPI.

Menus will continue to be posted at wcpss.net/menus. Menus specifically for your child’s school are now available at bit.ly/MealViewerWCPSS.

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Special Diets

Should your child have a medical need that requires a special diet request, follow these instructions in order for our Special Diets Department to process your request. Please note that it may take several weeks to process your request and order the food necessary to comply with your child’s needs:

1. Complete medical statement form under Special Diets at wcpss.net/menus  and have it signed by a licensed medical professional.  
2. Turn this completed form into the Manager at your school or chosen curbside pick-up location. Please note that it may take 10 business days for processing and an additional 10 business days to order food.
3. The Manager will call you to let you know about any updates or when he/she is ready to feed your child.
4. Please note that if you change your curbside pick-up location, you must notify the Manager two weeks in advance so he/she can coordinate to transfer the medical statement and food to a new location.
5. If you change your curbside pick-up days, or want to discontinue your child’s special diets at their school, please contact the site Manager to let him/her know as soon as possible.
6. Menu is subject to change at any time.

If your child has an existing medical statement with Wake County Public Schools:

1. If your child has an existing medical statement, contact our Special Diets processor at ktran@wcpss.net to verify this information. Include the name of the school site that you will be picking up your child’s meal. Sites are posted at wcpss.net/food.

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Meal Prices and Applying for Meal Benefits

Meals will be free for all students through June 2022. Breakfast and lunch will be available at no cost for all students who are learning in-person within the school, as well as students who are enrolled in Virtual Academy. Meals will continue to be served at curbside feeding sites listed at wcpss.net/food. Meals are limited to one breakfast and one lunch per student per day. 

When students are choosing items on the serving line, they must take a minimum number of items, one of which must be a fruit or vegetable, in order to be served the meal at no cost.

Although an approved application is not required to receive free meals through June 2022, families should consider applying for meal benefits early in the school year. For every student that turns in the free and reduced lunch application and qualifies, the school receives federal funds that benefit the student and teachers at the school. These funds provide additional teachers and staff for the school which means more services for students, especially students that are struggling in reading or math. These funds also are used for materials and supplies for students and teachers. These are valuable resources that teachers can use to improve student achievement.

Another important reason to apply is the direct benefit to families that may receive additional funds for the household.  If Pandemic Electronic Benefits (P-EBT) benefits are extended, a student’s meal benefit eligibility can be used to qualify for additional funding that families can use to purchase groceries. If you do not apply and qualify for meal benefits, you will miss the potential opportunity to receive P-EBT funds for your family.

Information about applying for Meal Benefits for the 2021-22 school year can be found at School Meals / Free/Reduced Meals. Applications can be completed online at MySchoolApps.com, or a paper application can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.

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Prepayments

To speed service CNS recommends that parents fund a prepayment account to allow their student to easily purchase a la carte items using their student ID number.  You may make prepayments one of two ways:

• By credit card at MySchoolBucks.com

• Signing up for MySchoolBucks is secure, easy and no-cost.
• View your student's purchases and account balance at any time.
• Using this feature does not require on-line payments.
• Set up notifications at no cost to you. You'll receive an email that informs you when additional funds will be required to ensure your student has funds for item purchase.

• By cash or check, in an envelope with the student’s name and ID number written on the front, given to a CNS cashier or manager prior to meal service.

• We use CHECKredi as our check service provider. Your check should include your full name, street address and phone number. By presenting your check, you authorize service charges and processing fees to be debited from your account. If you have questions about a returned check, contact CHECKredi at (800) 686-9522.

Due to a national coin shortage, banks are limiting the amount of coins that our cafes may receive.  This may impact our cashier’s ability to provide change to students that purchase ala carte items with cash.  Should this occur, the “change” will be applied to the student’s meal account so the student may use it for future purchases.    

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Donations, Refunds, and Monetary Transfers

If you would like to request a refund of your current meal account balance, complete this refund form. Complete this refund form in Spanish. Please allow up to 6 weeks for your refunds to be processed. If you use the auto-replenishment feature on MySchoolBucks.com, immediately deactivate it to prevent additional withdrawals from your bank account.

To donate your students account balance to help other students that do not have sufficient funds in their account available for their meal OR to transfer funds between students attending different schools, complete this form. To make a direct donation to support school nutrition programming, look for the donations feature on your MySchoolBucks.com account.

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