Overview
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Welcome to the Nutrition Services Department!
The Lemon Grove School District participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program. Good nutrition and learning go hand in hand. We support learning by promoting healthy habits for lifelong nutrition practices. Meals served at schools meet strict state and federal requirements.
Contact us at 619-825-5600 x2601
LGSD Nutrition Services provides Breakfast and Lunch Meals to all students.
Breakfast is provided at no cost to all LGSD students during the designated breakfast service time. Adult breakfast is $2.75 milk not included.
| Student Lunch Meal Prices | |
| Paid | $2.75 |
| Reduced | $0.40 |
| Free | $0.00 |
| Milk Only | $0.50 |
| Adult (milk not included) | $4.00 |
| Reduced Price Lunch By | Paid Price Lunch By | ||
| Week | $2.00 | Week | $13.75 |
| 2 Weeks | $4.00 | 2 Weeks | $27.50 |
| 3 Weeks | $6.00 | 3 Weeks | $41.25 |
| 4 Weeks | $8.00 | 4 Weeks | $55.00 |
| Full Year | $72.00 | Full Year | $495.00 |
- In the School Office drop box via cash or check
- Online at www.ezschoolpay.com
**Make checks payable to LGSD-Nutrition Services and write child’s first and last name on check memo line.
*Credit cards only accepted online.
Menus are posted on both the District and school websites
All Students must reapply for free/reduced meal benefits each school year!
- Only complete one application per family. The information you provide us is strictly confidential and will only be used to determine your child's eligibility for free or reduced-priced meals.
- Applications may be completed by paper or online at: www.ezmealapp.com
- Online meal applications available in English, Spanish, Chinese
- The District Office and School offices have a computer available to complete this online application
- You will be notified either by email/mail of your child’s status. Until notification you must provide your child with a lunch or lunch money. If you submitted an application and have not received a response letter, by 10 business days, contact Nutrition Services at 619-825-5600 x2601.
- If your student(s) was on free or reduced meals last school year, your student will continue to receive free or reduced meals for only the first 30 school days of school. Carryover benefits will end October 2, 2019 and the status will be changed to paid. Once this occurs students will need to pay full price for their lunch meals.
- The USDA will not back pay for meals purchased prior to eligibility determination and therefore the parent/guardian is responsible for paying these charges.
MEAL CHARGE STANDARD PRACTICE (UNPAID BALANCE STANDARD PRACTICE) -
The purpose of this practice is to establish consistent meal charging and collection procedures for families, students, school administrators and Nutrition Service staff. Through the implementation of this policy, the Nutrition Services program can continue its mission of providing a variety of healthy meals for all students and operating in a self-sufficient manner, wholly separate from the district’s general fund.
The goals of these procedures are:
- To maintain a positive experience for our students during meal service
- To treat all students with dignity and respect
- To promote parent/guardian responsibility of meal payments and self-responsibility for students
- To encourage parents to pre-pay for all meals and minimize meal charges
- To establish age-appropriate practices
Payment Methods
We strongly encourage prepayments (weekly, monthly or yearly) to be made on student meal accounts as this helps reduce the amount of time spent in line. Lunch meal prices are $2.75 and $0.40 students eligible for reduced prices, and can easily be made:
- Online at www.ezschoolpay.com
- School office via payment lock box – complete a meal payment envelopes
- Cafeteria
A fee will be charged for all returned checks and could result in a “cash-only” payment schedule.
It is the parent’s/guardian’s responsibility to provide the money for the child or children to purchase a school meal, complete the free/reduced meal application to determine if they are eligible from free or reduced price meals, or send a meal from home.
At any time during the school year, if a family income decreases, an application for free or reduced price meals may be completed to determine eligibility.
Parent/Guardian Repayment for Meal Charges -
Every effort will be made to collect unpaid meal charges (negative charges):
- Negative lunch account - will generate an email that will be sent each Friday to remind you to put money on the account.
- Friday cafeteria staff will print out payment reminders and put them in the teachers box to be sent home with students with negative balances of $10.00 or more
- At $15.00, administrators will be notified and a formal letter and meal application will be sent to the household from the district
- At $30.00 the district will contact the household
- Progressive notification will continue as long as there is outstanding debt
A log of these communication attempts will be kept on file.
Free and Reduced Lunch Price Meal Application - Payment Responsibilities until Approved
Families are encouraged to apply for free/reduced price meal benefits. Applications are available in school offices and on our district website at www.ezmealapp.com.
Parents are responsible for payment of all school meals and accumulated charges until approval is granted. Federal guidelines allow a maximum of ten (10) business days to process a meal application. Parents will receive a notification letter of a student’s eligibility showing the effective date. If a notification letter is not received within ten (10) business days, the parent should contact Nutrition Services 619-825-5600 x2601 to see if the application has been received.
Adult Meals
There will be no charges allowed for adult meals.
All Negative Account Balances
If a negative account balance is on a student’s account, the student will gently be reminded to bring lunch money, an automated email, phone call or text message will be made to the parent (Thursday) until the account is paid off. A log of these communication attempts will be kept on file. In addition, each Thursday cafeteria staff will print out payment reminders and put them in the teacher’s box to be sent home with students with negative balances of $10.00 or more.
Parent/guardians that do not pay their child's meal charges will be referred to the Principal for assistance in collecting payment. Principals will assist Nutrition Services in collecting the outstanding meal charges. In addition, principals may contact school social workers for assistance as needed.
At the end of the school year, the amount of uncollected meal debt must be paid to the
Child Nutrition meal fund account from a district funding source. These monies typically come from the general fund, which directly impacts our ability to provide the full range of instructional services designed to support the academic success of our students. Our hope is that through establishment and application of this policy, no meal debts will go unpaid, and all general fund monies will go toward our students’ educational experience.
Based on your annual earnings, you may be eligible to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit from the Federal Government (Federal EITC). The Federal EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. The Federal EITC has no effect on certain welfare benefits. In most cases, Federal EITC payments will not be used to determine eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, low-income housing, or most Temporary Assistance For Needy Families payments. Even if you do not owe federal taxes, you must file a federal tax return to receive the Federal EITC. Be sure to fill out the Federal EITC form in the Federal Income Tax Return Booklet. For information regarding your eligibility to receive the Federal EITC, including information on how to obtain the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Notice 797 or any other necessary forms and instructions, contact the IRS by calling 1-800-829-3676 or through its website at www.irs.gov.
You may also be eligible to receive the California Earned Income Tax Credit (California EITC) starting with the calendar year 2015 tax year. The California EITC is a refundable state income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. The California EITC is treated in the same manner as the Federal EITC and generally will not be used to determine eligibility for welfare benefits under California law. To claim the California EITC, even if you do not owe California taxes, you must file a California income tax return and complete and attach the California EITC Form (FTB 3514). For information on the availability of the credit eligibility requirements and how to obtain the necessary California forms and get help filing, contact the Franchise Tax Board at 1-800-852-5711 or through its website at www.ftb.ca.gov.
NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, and American Sign Language) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should complete a Form AD 3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, which can be obtained online, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442;
email:
This institution is an equal opportunity provider