Plumas Lake Elementary School District

Nutrition Services

Free Meals for Children Under 18

Free Meals for Children Under 18title

Thank you,

Nutrition Services Team

Plumas Lake Elementary School District

2023-24 MEAL APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON LINE

CLICK HERE

Make It A Meal

Make It A Mealtitle

Check out what we learned how to do - design beautiful signs!

Did you know your students have the power of choice with their school meals? There's plenty of choices to make each day, and no two plates are ever exactly the same!

Choose what you eat, eat what you choose

A breakfast meal includes at least 1/2 cup serving of fruits or vegetables and at least 2 servings of two other food groups.

A lunch meal includes at least 1/2 cup serving of fruits or vegetables and at least 2 other food groups on the plate.

Serving up Success: Nutrition Service Department

Serving up Success: Nutrition Service Department
title

The District Nutrition Services department is committed to providing complete, nutritious and pleasing meals to all students. Every meal will meet the USDA requirements for nutrition, enabling all students to prepare for academic development.

The Nutrition Services department provides breakfast and lunch for all students who want to participate. We host kitchens at Rio Del Oro Elementary, Cobblestone Elementary, and Riverside Meadows Intermediate School. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and funded through federal and state programs, the program makes meals available for all students. The application for the Meal Benefit Program (Free and/or Reduced Meal Program) is available here. For more information about the Meal Benefit Program, click here.

All students are able to recieve one free breakfast and once free lunch every school day.

Anyone can buy our delicious non-fat chocolate or low-fat original milk for $ 0.50 if they choose not to recieve a free meal.

Adult meals and extra items, such as a second entree are available for purchase at regular menu price and are not included within the Meal Benefit Program.

Your family can fill out a Meal Benefit Program Application at any time! Your family may qualify for Free or Reduced priced meals based on household income or receipt of benefits such as CalFRESH or CalWORKS. Additionally, if your family qualifies for Free or Reduced priced meals, you may qualify for benefits such as CalFRESH.

If you need assistance completing this form, please contact Mary DeLong at (530) 743-4428 ext. 770

Please be sure to pay any negative balances on your child's account immediately! If you believe your family needs a payment plan, please contact Mary DeLong at (530) 743-4428 ext 770.

For your convenience, you may pay your account balance by visiting www.myschoolbucks.com (a small vendor fee DOES apply) or by mailing your check to the Plumas Lake Elementary School District Office at the address below. Please make checks payable to "Food Service."

Plumas Lake Elementary School District

2473 Plumas School Road

Plumas Lake, CA 95961

If you have questions about your family's account, please contact the Director of Nutrition Services, Mary DeLong.

Farm to School Program

Farm to School Programtitle

Farm to School brings healthy food from local farms to school children nationwide. See how Plumas Lake is providing our students locally grown items.

Check out some information and pictures from some of our locally sourced produce by clicking here!

Wellness Commitee

Wellness Commitee title

Nutrition is only part of what we do! Our program is committed to healthy living, and we want your help to be the best we can be.

Our Wellness Committee is interested in topics such as healthy eating, physical activity, general health knowledge, and community outreach.

If you are interested in being a part of the PLESD Wellness Committee please contact the Nutrition Services Department at 530-743-4428 ext 770 for details.

Debit Card, Credit Card, and our Online Payment Portal

Debit Card, Credit Card, and our Online Payment Portal
title

The Nutrition Service Department partners with M ySchoolBucks.com to offer a secure online payment portal

for families. You will need to know your students ID number in order to set up an account.

At this time, the online payment portal with MySchoolBucks is the only way for families to make payments with credit or debit cards. Cash and check payments are welcome at the school sites and the District Office.

Please note the following details about MySchoolBucks:

A low cost convenience fee for cafeteria account deposits will be added to the transaction, which will cover all deposits made within a single transaction. You can now pay on more than one student's account at a time and only be charged a single convenience fee.
MySchoolBucks has the following payment methods available for use:
- Visa®
- Mastercard®
- Discover®
- Electronic Check
You can set up automatic email reminders! We cannot set these alerts up for you, but are happy to help with other account management tools.

If you have any questions please feel free to call the Nutrition Services Department at 530-743-4428 ext.770

Account Balances

Account Balancestitle

If your family receives email or phone notification from the Nutrition Services Department regarding a low or negative account balance, you can contact the Nutrition Services Department at the District Office for an updated account balance statement, and transaction history for your child.

The best way to stay on top of your student's purchasing patterns is to download the FREE MySchoolBucks app and monitor your student's transactions in real time.

You can also check your student's account balances, transactions, and make payments online using our secure third-party payment system with www.MySchoolBucks.com.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
title

In accordance with federal civil rights 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 (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, 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 at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, 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; or

email:
program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

05/05/2022

Meal Payment Collection Policy and Procedures

Meal Payment Collection Policy and Procedures
title

Meal Charge Policy

The goal of the Plumas Lake Elementary School District (PLESD) is to provide students with healthy meals each day. However, unpaid charges place a large financial burden on our Nutrition Services Department. The purpose of this policy is to insure compliance with federal reporting requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program, and to provide oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances.

The intent of this policy is to establish uniform meal account procedures throughout the PLESD. While the USDA Child Nutrition Program does not require that a student who pays the base priced meals be served a meal without payment, the Plumas Lake Elementary School District provides this service as a courtesy to those students in the event that they forget or lose their lunch money.

SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY:

The Nutrition Service Department: Responsible for providing access to healthy meals for all enrolled students, maintaining transaction and charge records, and for notifying the student’s parent/guardian of low or outstanding balances at regular intervals. The Nutrition Service Department is also responsible for notifying the School District of outstanding balances.

The School District: Responsible for supporting the Nutrition Service Department in maintaining accounts in good status and collection activities.

The Parent/Guardian: Account monitoring and immediate payment.

Where does the money go?

Funds collected for meal purchases pay directly for the food included in your child’s meal, as well as so much more. Some goals meal purchases fund include:

Continued lean protein and whole grain entree options
Continued access to fresh produce
Continued farm to school and locally procured produce
Continued Nutrition Services Team excellent service standard
Scratch cooked menu items (meaning food is created and prepared completely on site)
Farm to school activities, such as farmer visits and produce taste testing/cooking events
Nutrition Education in the classroom
Increase children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables

Charge Policy and Methods of Collection

PLESD allows students to charge meals even if they have a negative balance because we understand that there are days when automatic payments may not have been completed, students forget to bring lunch or their money, and more. Parents are expected to immediately bring the account into good standing. If negative balances are not paid the school district will use, but will not be limited to, the following methods to collect the balance due:

Email communication sent home requesting balance to paid;
Automated phone calls requesting balance to be paid;
Discrete letters mailed directly to home address requesting balance to be paid;
Personal phone calls home;
Referral of account to student services department;
Home visit.

Balances Owed with No Response by Parent/Guardian:

If the payment is not received, the Superintendent or his/her designee may take one or more of the following actions, unless or until prohibited by state law or regulation, and/or current Board Policies:

1) Delay the issuance of Report cards, transfer cards, and class assignments until obligations are met.

2) Limit and/or prohibit participation of the student in the program.

3) Prohibit participation of student, or other students in the student’s household, from participating in any future fee based program until or unless outstanding balances are resolved.

4) Prohibit student participation in promotion activities or promotion exercises.

5) Revoke inter-district agreement.

6) Use of a debt collection agency.

Account Management

Account management is the responsibility of the family. Account management tools include:

Convenient online access to view your student(s)’ account for free with www.MySchoolBucks.com.
Access to the most recent 30 days transaction records through www.MySchoolBucks.com.
On-the-go monitoring with the FREE MySchoolBucks app for smart phones and smart devices.
Access to transaction histories detailing all purchases and payments for the current school year, available by request through the Nutrition Services office.
Repayment arrangements directly with the Nutrition Services Department.

Refunds:

For withdrawn, and promoting students; a written request for a refund of any money remaining in their account must be submitted. An e-mail request is also acceptable. Students who are promoting at the end of the year will be given the option to transfer to a sibling’s account with a written request.

Unclaimed Funds:

Unclaimed funds must be requested within one school year. Unclaimed funds will then become the property of the PLESD Nutrition Service Program.