Food Service

Meal Prices

Central Elementary and Rommelt Elementary

Breakfast: $1.05 or $.30 reduced
Lunch: $2.25 or $.40 reduced

Junior Senior High School

Breakfast: $1.15 or $ .30 reduced
Lunch: $2.50 or $ .40 reduced

PLEASE NOTE: UNIVERSAL FREE MEAL PROGRAM HAS EXPIRED. PLEASE BE SURE TO SUBMIT FREE OR REDUCED MEAL APPLICATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF YOU BELIEVE YOUR FAMILY QUALIFIES. YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COST OF ANY MEALS PURCHASED PRIOR TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR APPLICATION.

Online System for Payments, Purchase Tracking, or Applying for Benefits

http://www.schoolcafe.com

Also available in the App Store or Google Play. 

We encourage all families to utilize SchoolCafe for the following free features:

• Apply for free or reduced meals
• Track your student’s account balance
• Track your student’s purchases
• Set low balance reminders so that you student doesn’t run out of funds

Credit card payments will be taken through the website at http://www.schoolcafe.com.  A convenience fee of $2.25 per transaction is charged for online payments.  Parents placing money into multiple student accounts will only be assessed the fee once per total deposit.  The South Williamsport Area School District does not receive any portion of the convenience fees.

Other Payment Options

Payments in school:

Checks are preferred with student name & PIN # on the memo line.

Cash deposits need to be placed in a sealed envelope with student’s name and PIN # on outside of envelope.

We ask that Elementary students provide payments to their classroom teacher during morning homeroom rather than taking it through the lunch line.  This will speed up the lunch line which will give your student more time to eat.

When your student goes through the line, they will be asked to pick options for a complete reimbursable meal.  If they don’t take a full reimbursable meal, they will be charged for each component separately.  Food service staff members will always encourage your student to take a full reimbursable meal.  A full reimbursable meal is as follows:

When your student gets to the cashier, they will need to enter their 5 digit student ID and hit the “Enter” button.  The keypad looks as follows.  Please practice with your student so that they know their ID number!

Borrowing Guidelines

The parent or guardian is responsible for ensuring that his/her student has the appropriate form of exchange to pay for their meal.

The District will not deny a school food program meal to any student who requests one but does not have the money to pay for the meal at the time of service in his or her meal account.  The District will only withhold meals from a student if they receive written direction from a parent or guardian.

Communication about a student’s school meal debt will be directed to the parent/guardian, not to the student.

Automated calls will be made daily when student has a negative balance.

When the student owes money for five or more meals, more formal communication attempts will be made. The District will make at least two attempts to reach the parent or guardian. Attempts may be made as follows:

The District may give a letter addressed to the parent or guardian in a sealed envelope that states “confidential – to be opened by addressee only” to the student to deliver home.

The District may also communicate meal debt information to the parent/guardian via text message, email, phone calls, or other digital means (such as Class Dojo app).  The student will be allowed to continue to charge meals to their account regardless of the success in contacting the parent/guardian.

For students in grades 9-12, school food service personnel may direct communications regarding a low balance or money owed to the student if the communications are made individually to the student by appropriate school personnel and are made discreetly.  This will be in addition to the communication to the parent.

The District will not publicly identify or stigmatize students because they have a school meal debt.  Likewise, the student will not be made to do chores or other work to earn a school meal. The District will not direct a student to discard a meal that has been served to them because they cannot pay for it at the time of service or because they have an existing school meal debt.

The District may restrict privileges or activities of students who owe money for school meals in cases where those same restrictions apply to students who owe money for other school-related purposes.

A la carte items or “extras” are not part of the National School Lunch Program.  A student, whose account is in a negative balance, will not be able to purchase a la carte items by charging their account or when they present cash at the point of sale (if the amount of cash is insufficient to cover the negative balance and the purchase of the a la carte item).  Refusal of a la carte sales will be done discretely as to not identify a student with a negative account.

Collection Efforts

The District may institute a collection procedure for unpaid balances including, but not limited to, filing a claim with the District Magistrate or delinquent collection agencies.  Parent/Guardian will be responsible to pay the amount due, as well as any and all fees assigned for collection of monies.

Meal Account Balances

Funds in the student’s meal account at the end of the school year will be carried over to the next school year.

Accounts of Transferred Students or Graduated Students

A refund from a student’s account is permitted only in the event that the student leaves the school district or the refund is requested by the parent or guardian under special circumstances.

Any unclaimed funds remaining for which a refund was not requested at June 30 will be transferred to a sibling account.  If no sibling account exists, the remaining balance will be transferred to a donation account.

Donation Account

Funds in the donation account will be held until the end of the school year.  Funds will be allocated as follows:

1. Outstanding debt of graduated students
2. Outstanding debt of transferred students
3. Outstanding debt of free or reduced students
4. Outstanding debt of paid students

Any funds remaining will be utilized to offset future outstanding debt.

Food Service Program

The goal of our food service program is to provide healthy enjoyable meals to students that is part of and supports their learning.  Balanced nutrition is a life-time learning goal for children and adults.  We strive to make all of our food options nutrition and fun.

At any time you have a question, please contact the Food Service Director by phone or e-mail.  We’re looking forward to serving your students.

Tara Stryker, Food Service Director
Email: Send a Message
Phone: (570) 320-4495

Breakfast Program

At Central and Rommelt Elementary, breakfast will be served in the classroom each morning. Each child can decide if they want to take a breakfast.  Their cafeteria account will be charged according to their lunch status (free, reduced or paid).

At the High School, students can enjoy breakfast in the cafeteria before the start of the day or during morning study halls.

If your student qualifies for Free Lunch, they can also have a Free Breakfast everyday.

Special events

Ice Cream Friday is a special event that we hold every Friday at Central Elementary. Students have the opportunity to purchase ice cream on this day only. All other schools offer ice cream every day as an a la carte option (see section below).

Wellness Wednesday is held once a month at Central Elementary.  It allows students to have the opportunity to sample new healthy recipes and receive nutritional information handouts. This is a fun educational event that we encourage all students to participate in. Please encourage your students to participate in this event as well.

Farm to Fork is done at the High School once a week from September through November ending with the harvest feast (Thanksgiving meal). Fruits and vegetables on the menu will be from local farms.

Recipe of the Month is featured in the High School. This item will be labeled on the menu. This is just our way of introducing new foods and finding new items that the children like so we can start offering them more.

A la carte

These items are open to students in 1st grade through 12th grade. If you would like to put limits on your student’s account, send in a written notice to the cafeteria. Please be specific. Notices that contain “one snack per week” are not possible to enforce; please specify which day you would like your child to be allowed to purchase a la carte items.

Weather Delays

During 2 hour delays, there will be no breakfast at Central Elementary and Rommelt Elementary.  At the High School, breakfast will be available during morning study halls.

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:

1. mail:
   U.S. Department of Agriculture
   Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
   1400 Independence Avenue, SW
   Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
2. fax:
   (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. email:
   Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.