St. Louis Language Immersion School Food Service Guide 2018-2019 Prepared by Kim Bryant, LDR Consulting LLC Consulting for St. Louis Language Immersion School
Purpose This guide is being prepared and provided to gain a better understanding for students, parents/guardians, facility and staff on the operations of School Food Service. Background St. Louis Language Immersion School, hereafter referred to as SLLIS, participates in the National School Lunch (NSLP) and School Breakfast (SBP) programs sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA provides guidance, procedures and policies for school districts to operate an effective, self-sustaining meal program in their schools. In addition to guidance, USDA provides reimbursement for meals in order for school districts to finance their school meal programs. Finances School Food Service Departments are meant to be self-sustaining financially. An effective, self-sustaining food service department does not require additional funding provided by the school s General Operating Budget (GOB). SLLIS has historically required additional funding from the GOB to meet their expenditure obligations which can have a negative impact on other departments such as instruction, building maintenance, etc. Food Service Departments are revenue vs. expenditure departments. Very simply stated, revenue must meet or exceed expenditures to be self-sustaining. Revenue sources Meals served to students and adults are the sole source of revenue. Federal reimbursement Every STUDENT meal claimed for reimbursement is paid based on the student s status (Free, Reduced or Paid). Each meal status is reimbursed at a different rate. Reimbursement Rates Free Lunch - $3.39 Reduced Lunch - $2.99 Paid Lunch - $.39 Free Breakfast - $2.14 Reduced Breakfast - $1.84 Paid Breakfast - $.31 Adult meals do not have any reimbursement opportunities. Federal law requires that all adult meal pricing exceed the cost of the meal as Federal reimbursement dollars are for student meals only. State Payment- A annual ONE time payment is provided by the State of Missouri based on the previous school year s number of student lunches served. This reimbursement is paid in June. Local Revenue- The amount paid for meals by Reduced students, Paid students and adults. Approximately 94% of the revenue to finance the SLLIS Food Service operation is from Federal reimbursement, less than 1% is provided by the State payment and approximately 5% is provided by Local revenue.
How meals are counted for reimbursement claims SLLIS uses a point of service software called Mealtime. Each student has been issued a personal identification number (PIN) that (s)he types into a PIN pad for identification, meal received and pricing (free, reduced or paid). Monthly reports are generated from Mealtime for claiming purposes. Only meals recorded in Mealtime are eligible to be claimed for reimbursement and invoicing to the food service contractor. Mealtime is an approved POS software by the State of Missouri. Free/Reduced Meal Benefit Application and Direct Certification Students are certified to receive free or reduced priced meals by two methods. The free/reduced meal benefit application is the most commonly used method to apply for meal benefits. Income levels are set nationwide by USDA and are used to determine free or reduced status. If a family income exceeds the income levels, they must pay full price for meals. Direct Certification is a method established using a student s identifying number and it is matched to a data base of children who receive food stamps (SNAP) or temporary financial assistance (TANF) though the State of Missouri. These identified students receive free meals at school without the need to complete an application. What the Free/Reduced Meal Benefit Application means to SLLIS Free/Reduced status numbers are used in many areas of education, not just pricing for student meals. Title 1 funds provided to schools are based on a formula that includes free/reduced numbers, the state funding formula (formula used to determine state funding) has a calculation that the free/reduced number is used to weight the base average daily attendance which means more revenue for a school. Reporting dates for these numbers are in October of each school year. It is financially beneficial to the school if all students apply for meal benefits. Even if a student does not receive meals at school and they are certified free or reduced, the amount of revenue the school receives is based on CERTIFICATION not PARTICIPATION. This is the motivation of the school to certify as many students as possible by October. Invitations to apply are sent home regularly in the first two months of school to accomplish this goal. If a parent refuses to apply and states as such on the application, no more invitations to apply will be sent home for the remainder of the school year. Meal Patterns and Menu Planning The Healthier Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) was enacted to help combat childhood obesity and to educate students on healthy food choices. New meal patterns were established for the NSLP and SBP. These meal patterns include maximum limits for fat, sodium and sugar content of food as well as minimum standards for food variety. Schools must provide a variety of five different vegetables categories per week, foods rich in whole grains with a minimum amount provided daily and weekly, a variety of milk provided to encourage all children to drink milk, a minimum amount of fruit provided daily and weekly and minimum amounts of protein served in the form of meat or meat alternatives. To see the full meal pattern regulations, go to the USDA website, www.usda.gov and look under meal patterns. CERES is the food service contractor serving SLLIS. All menus have been planned and analyzed to meet or exceed these standards. Menus are submitted and certified to meet these standards by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Food Service Division on a three year cycle for review. All pre-packaged products used in the breakfast program are within limits for fat, sodium and sugar content. Bread products are whole grain. Meat options are served in the required amounts. Fruit and vegetable options are served in the required amounts. Milk variety includes fat free white milk, Skim (1%) white milk and fat free chocolate. A variety of milk is required to encourage students to become milk drinkers. Many students do not drink white milk, therefore, chocolate is being provided to ensure these students
the opportunity to receive the important nutrients of calcium and protein. These benefits far outweigh the sugar content in flavored milk which is within guidelines for HHFKA. Menus are planned and analyzed in advance. Many times an established menu must be changed due to lack of availability of products from food suppliers. It is the goal of CERES to provide all items stated on the menu on the day stated, however, circumstances can arise beyond their control to achieve this goal. Menus are available in paper format at your student s school and on the SLLIS website under Food Service. Your student can pick up a menu for home use at the receptionist s desk. General Information Meal Prices Reduced Price Breakfast - $.30 Full Price Breakfast - $.40 Adult Breakfast - $2.75 Reduced Price Lunch $.40 Full Price Lunch - $3.00 Adult Lunch - $3.90 Payment Options Personal Checks Money Orders Cashier s Checks Please make checks payable to: SLLIS Debit/Credit Card payments may be made at your student s school via Square or through the Parent Portal in Mealtime at www.mymealtime.com. No Cash Accepted Payments are accepted by the receptionist in each building.
Unpaid Meal Procedures SLLIS believes that children cannot learn effectively if they are distracted by being hungry. Therefore, SLLIS has set procedures that when a student has a negative meal balance (money owed for meals), the student will receive the meal regardless of the amount owed. At the point of service (POS) the negative balance will not be discussed with the student to ensure that meal shaming does not occur and the student s privacy is preserved. Parents will receive weekly notification of negative balances via email. These notices will be emailed on Sundays. When a negative balance exceeds -$25.00, SLLIS will begin collection procedures in the form of written warnings sent home with the student, phone calls to the parent and face to face meetings with the parent. Parents are responsible and required to pay for their students meals if their student is certified for reduced price meals and full price meals. It is important to know that when a parent fails to pay the negative balance for their student s meals, SLLIS will be required to pay the Food Service Operation for these meals out of the general operating budget which takes much needed resources away from other departments. Non-Discrimination Statement In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (566) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.