Nourishing Pickens County Students

For food allergies requiring a student to have modified or adjusted meals, please have your physician complete the Nutrition Accommodation Form and provide it to your school nurse.

Forms must be submitted at the beginning of each school year or whenever there is a diet change. Incomplete forms cannot be processed and will be returned to the parent/guardian for completion.

Upon receipt of each completed form, Student Nutrition Services will modify menus and instruct cafeteria managers regarding each special diet. In order for cafeteria staff to monitor a student's tray for allergens, a medical statement must be on file so we can flag the student's account. We must have the attached medical statement—just giving the information to the health room is not enough.

Parents are encouraged to review appropriate food choices from the menu with their child. For a listing of safe snacks free of peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs, visit snacksafely.com.

Definition: Charged meals are defined as meals which cannot be properly accounted for because the student has no money in their account.

Purpose: These procedures are developed for handling charged meals on a consistent basis so that students will not be embarrassed or humiliated.

Responsibility: The Assistant Superintendent and Director of Student Nutrition Services are locally responsible for these procedures and subsequent modifications. Food Service Managers are responsible for ensuring compliance.

Procedure: Students cannot charge extra meals or a la carte items and must have money in their accounts to purchase these items. Notification through School Messenger (phone calls and emails) is used to notify parents of account balances below $5.00 on a weekly basis.

Any student on paid or reduced meal status with a negative $10.00 balance will be served an alternate meal (a grilled cheese sandwich or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a carton of milk) until the balance is paid in full, unless arrangements have been made with the food service director and/or manager to make installment payments.

Students on free meal status with a negative balance always receive a regular meal. Students with any negative balance cannot purchase a la carte items, regardless of status.

The School District of Pickens County has partnered with MySchoolBucks so that families can have direct access to their children's cafeteria accounts.

By setting up a MySchoolBucks account, you can see what and when your children have been eating, check current balances, establish recurring payments, set spending limits, and make notes for the cafeteria manager. Payment history for the year is also available.

MySchoolBucks helps eliminate last-minute check writing, improves efficiency, and eliminates the worry that your child could lose or forget money intended for meals. To use MySchoolBucks, you will need an internet connection, a valid email address, and your student's date of birth.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.

School lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Regulations establish a standard for school lunches to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.

For more information, visit the USDA National School Lunch Program website.