• 104.0 -- Food & Nutrition Services

     

    Sarasota County Schools Food and Nutrition Services Department operates National School Breakfast Programs (NSBP), National School Lunch Programs (NSLP); and at schools that qualify, the After School Snack Program (ASSP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and Summer Feeding Program.  Meals comply with relevant national program guidelines.  A monthly menu can be found linked on our website under the Food and Nutrition Services Department. Personal copies of the menu may also be sent home at your request.  Nutrislice is an “app” that is also available for download on a Smart Phone that will have breakfast and lunch menus and nutrition information. Additional information about Food and Nutrition Services can also be found on Facebook (Sarasota County Schools Food & Nutrition Services) and Instagram (@SRQSchoolFNS).

    Funding for Meals:
    Parents may pay into a child’s account by sending money with the child to school or through an online program called www.myschoolbucks.com. The school, grade, birth date and district N number is needed in order to create an account. The student's lunch account can then be funded with a credit or debit card. (A convenience fee is charged for each transaction.) Features of this program include online viewing of the account balance, viewing seven days of meal purchase history and the ability to enable the "Smart Pay" feature which automatically adds money to a child's account when a low balance is reached.  Money in the form of cash or check is collected daily at breakfast or lunch by the Food and Nutrition Services Cashier. Please send money in a well-sealed envelope with your child's FIRST AND LAST NAME, district N number, and TOTAL AMOUNT included. Checks are to be made payable to the school the child attends.  If a child attends a charter school, the check needs to be made out to the school that provides the meals.  Please put the child's name and PIN # in the memo area of the check as well.  If more than one child attends a school, please designate how the money or check should be divided. Refunds may be issued upon parental request to the Food and Nutrition Services Department.

    Free and Reduced Meal Benefits:
    Parents and/or guardians are responsible to apply for Free and Reduced Meal Benefits and are responsible for all charges until eligibility is determined.  Parents will be notified when a child's account is running low.  Please make sure if you sign up for www.myschoolbucks.com, the child’s account is current.  

    Free and Reduced meal benefits must be applied for annually.  Parents and/or guardians may apply online under the Food and Nutrition Services Department section. Paper applications are also available in each school’s main office. We offer applications in multiple languages from our central Office if needed.

    Food & Nutrition Services temporarily provides an alternate meal to children if they do not have sufficient funds to pay for their lunch unless they qualify for the Free and Reduced Meal Program. It is necessary on some occasions for a student to charge meals, but charges shall not be unlimited.

    The procedure for limiting and collecting charges is as follows:

    First Level:

    Students are allowed to charge up to $6.00 before a personal phone call from the FNS Manager is made to the student’s home. A letter from the FNS Manager and Principal, explaining the charges and payment options, and a Free and Reduced postcard notification is mailed to the student’s home.  A copy of this letter is sent to the school’s Guidance Counselor.  The date of the first call home and the date the letter and postcard are mailed is documented on the Manager Notification Record. 

    Second Level:

    1. Once $12.00 in charges is reached, the FNS Manager, Assistant Principal, Guidance Counselor, or school-based administrator meets with the students who have reached the charge limit.  The date of this meeting is recorded on the Manager Notification Record.  The student receives an alternative meal after the $12.00 is exceeded.  Each alternative meal will cost $.75, and will be repaid to FNS. 

    2. A report of students who have a negative balance of $12.00 or greater will be sent to the school Principal and the FNS Area Supervisor on a weekly basis with an indication of action taken. 

    • Automated phone messages to students’ homes continue to be made three times a week, M, W, F, from the Central FNS Office.  Charge slips are given to the students at the time of each charge.
    • Charges are never to be accounted for as free lunches.
    • When a student charges a meal, the cashier will record the amount owed and give the charge slip to the student.
    • Adults may not charge meals or a la carte items  
    • Students may not charge ala carte items.
    • Students may not purchase ala carte food items any time they have a negative balance.

     

    Meal Prices Effective for the 2018-2019 School Year:

    Age                 
    		 Paid Price: Breakfast    
    		 Reduced Price: Breakfast    
    		 Paid Price: Lunch    
    		 Reduced Price: Lunch 
    Elementary  $1.00  $0.30   $2.25   $0.40 
    Middle   $1.25 $0.30   $2.50   $0.40 
    High   $1.25  $0.30   $2.75   $0.40 
    Adult   $1.50  N/A  $3.50   N/A 


    Foods from outside Food & Nutrition Services:
    Please note that, due to long-standing regulations established by the National School Lunch Program and the Sarasota County School District, the only food that may be purchased on school campuses by students or parents is food that is sold in school cafeterias or other authorized locations on campuses.

    Students may bring food purchased elsewhere to school, for consumption during scheduled school meal times. Parents also may bring food purchased elsewhere to school for their children only, for consumption during scheduled school meal times. Students and parents also may bring food purchased elsewhere to schools for school-authorized events such as classroom celebrations, subject to school-specific rules and permissions.

    However, financial transactions for the purchase of food, such as food delivery purchases, may not be made by students or parents on school campuses until at least 30 minutes after the end of the school day. This includes payment by credit card when any part of the transaction made by any method occurs on a school campus, including phone and Internet orders.

    Florida Administrative Code, Section 64E-11.003

    “Food prepared in a private home shall not be used, sold, or offered to the public by a food service establishment or theater.”

    “Food received or used in food service establishments shall be from sources approved or considered satisfactory by the department (Health Department) and shall be clean, wholesome, free from spoilage, adulteration and misbranding and safe for human consumption.  It shall have been prepared, processed, handled, packaged, transported and stored in a sanitary manner so as to be protected from contamination and spoilage.”

    Please refer to Sarasota County Schools’ Food and Nutritional Services for more information.