Child Nutrition

1. It shall be the responsibility of the Principal to arrange the school schedule so that students will at all times enter the cafeteria, eat lunch, and return to  classrooms in an unhurried and relaxed manner.   Elementary teachers will monitor the serving line to maintain the lunch schedule and to supervise the behavior of students. It is recommended that students have at least 15 minutes from the time he/she is seated until the time the student is released from lunch.
2. The Director of Child Nutrition must be notified at least 3 weeks in advance of any menu or special function requests.
3. Students are not allowed in the kitchen area of the cafeteria.
4. Teachers and staff are to be served from the serving lines only.
5. Only Child Nutrition Department employees shall be admitted to the kitchen area during food preparation and serving hours, with the exception of repairmen, deliverymen, or persons who are in possession of a current health card.
6. Child Nutrition Department employees to include persons responsible for food preparation, cooking, serving, and cleanup and Child Nutrition Department managers are not required to pay for meals.  All other school employees or employee relatives are required to pay for meals.
7. Free or reduced price meals will be served to qualifying children according to Federal statutes and regulations.
8. All meal payments, which include cash, checks, and prepays are to be made at the point of service.  A maximum of one (1) charged meal is allowable for middle school students.  A maximum of three (3) charged meals is allowable for elementary students.  Charges are not allowed for high school students and adults.  Accountability in the school and the collection for these charges are the responsibility of the Cafeteria Manager with the assistance of the Director of Child Nutrition and the Principal.
9. No food items will be sold on the school campus one hour prior to any meal service period. This includes student accessible school vending machine sales. No commercial business food deliveries may be received or consumed in the cafeteria dining room during serving periods.
10. The Child Nutrition Department will serve only those foods which are components of the approved federal meal patterns.  Additional foods will be served as necessary to meet caloric requirements of the age group being served. To reduce plate waste, “offer versus serve” will be implemented in grades K through 12.  Students will be offered five meal components.  Students must select a minimum of three different meal components to qualify for a reimbursable meal. The choice of three or four items does not relieve the non-needy child from paying the full price of the meal.
11. With the exception of milk products, a student may purchase individual components of the meal only if the full meal unit is purchased. Desserts are not a meal component; and, therefore, additional desserts cannot be purchased.
12. Students who bring lunch from home may purchase milk products. Beverages other than milk or juice shall not be consumed in the dining room during the lunch period except in an unidentifiable container.

ADOPTED:    08/08/2006