PolkDistrict
SchoolFoodService
2221 Old Cedartown Road
PHONE: (770) 684-5447 Cedartown, GA30125 FAX: (770) 684-5836
Dear Parent or Guardian:
School Food Services would like to welcome you to a new school year and inform you of some very exciting news. Polk County Schools will be continuing a new program available in the State of Georgia called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for School Year 2015-2016.
What does this mean for you and your children attending any school in Polk County?
Great news for you and your child! ALL enrolled students of Polk County Schools are now eligible to receive a healthy breakfast AND lunch at school at NO COST to your household each day of the 2014-2015 school year. No further action is required of you. Your child(ren) will be able to participate in these meal programs without having to pay a fee or submit a meal application. If you were paying for full-priced or reduced-priced meals in the past, you will not be paying those charges this year for your child to receive a breakfast or lunch!
This new program operates somewhat differently than in the past and we would like it to continue it for years to come because it greatly benefits all children and their families in this community. Therefore it is of great importance that as a school district we have extremely high participation and are asking for your help in this matter.
Please encourage your child to eat both breakfast and lunch daily at school. Even if your child brings a lunch from home, he/she can still pick up a school meal to supplement what is brought. Soon the schools will have a salad bar option to get a salad, vegetables, fruit and milk to eat in addition to food from home. Again, I cannot stress to you the importance of participation for the program to be successful and continue.
Also another very exciting change at breakfast for both the elementary and middle schools is that all students will be able to participate in “Breakfast in the Classroom”. Each morning, once the students are in the classroom, breakfast will be served there and eaten as the school day begins. For the high schools, students will have the opportunity of participating in a “Grab and Go”option, where breakfast meals will be offered in the hallways and then taken to class and eaten during the first part of each day. I think you will be interested in knowing that research has shown that following these models for feeding students have many positive benefits such as better academic achievement, improved behavior, less absences and tardies to school.
For breakfast and lunch to be at no cost, the student must select a complete meal consisting of three of five components (grain, milk, meat, fruit and vegetable). Individuals items otherwise must be paid as they are considered ala carte. Also, any extra food will also require payment. You may want to keep some money in your child’s account for such occasions. Your child may not charge for any extra food or ala carte items.
On a final note, if your child owes charges for meals from previous years, you are still responsible for paying the money owed. Thankfully there will be no additional charges this year.
If we can be of any further assistance, please contact the Nutrition Office at 770-684-5447.
Sincerely,
Kim McBurnett
School Nutrition Director
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