Paying for Meals

Grand County students are may be eligible for FREE meals for the 2022-2023 school year if they meet any of the following conditions: 

• Families or children whose household income is within the income eligibility guidelines on the chart below
• Families or children who participate in SNAP, FDPIR, or TANF 
• Families or children who are living in motels, hotels, hostels, RVs, campgrounds, emergency or transitional shelters, abandoned buildings, cars, parks, or any other public or private places not designed or ordinarily used as permanent lodging.
• Families or children who are sharing the housing of another person due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason.
• A child who is formally placed by the court into foster care. 
• A child who is identified as a runaway and receiving assistance from a program under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.
• Families or children considered migrant agricultural workers. 

• Families or children who participate in SNAP, FDPIR, or TANF 
• Families or children who are living in motels, hotels, hostels, RVs, campgrounds, emergency or transitional shelters, abandoned buildings, cars, parks, or any other public or private places not designed or ordinarily used as permanent lodging.
• Families or children who are sharing the housing of another person due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason.
• A child who is formally placed by the court into foster care. 
• A child who is identified as a runaway and receiving assistance from a program under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.
• Families or children considered migrant agricultural workers. 

** Please note we will no longer “remind” students to tell their parents to send money to the school. It is the parent’s responsibility to pay the student’s account. **

1. Parents will be notified by phone or email by Messenger on Tuesdays and Fridays from 5:30- 9:00 p.m. when students have a negative or $0.00 amount in their account. Parents must keep contact information updated with secretaries especially new contact numbers so your student can reach you if they have no money in their account. Parents are responsible for your student’s meal account funds.
2. Parents are not allowed to charge more than $8.00 in their students account. Students will eat a regular meal for 2 more times at this point, bringing the charges up to $12.00.  It is the parent’s responsibility to respond to phone calls or if you choose not to answer the calls, to check your students' balance often and prepay so your student may eat. Please do not cause the students to stress over their account. They must have funds added to their accounts when their is debt beyond -$12.00.
3. If you are having financial difficulties please fill out a new Free and Reduced Meal Application to see if you qualify. 
4. If you are having temporary financial issues we would like to help you if you should need to defer a payment for a few days.  This can only occur if you notify the kitchen manager at your school or Director of Child Nutrition Programs Alysha Packard at (435) 259-2757 or [email protected].
5. Parents are advised to prepay into their child’s account before school starts. If your student is new to the district and you are applying for Free or Reduced Meals you must prepay for meals because the students will still be charged full price until the application is approved.  It may take up to ten days before applications are approved.

Students who qualified for Free or Reduced status last year will qualify as they did at the end of the previous school year for the first 30 school days of the new school year calendar only. The expiration date will be September 30, 2022. Parents must fill out a new application every year.  New applications will be available at the District Office 264 S 400 E on July 1, online, and at all schools.

Food and Nutrition department receive full reimbursement for free meals and partial reimbursements for meals served to students who do not qualify for free meals.  Parents must make payments to the student’s account to make up the difference between the federal reimbursements and the cost of the meal. 

1. “A la carte sales” at the elementary school refers in general to extra milk a student can purchase for $.75 each
2. "A la carte sales" at the middle and high school refers to additional items available separately from a reimbursable meal.
3. “Alternate meal” means a meal served to students different from the meals served to other students because the student does not have adequate funds in their meal account.  The alternate meal will consist of a peanut butter/honey sandwich and milk.  This allows the student to have something to eat while limiting the cost to school lunch program.  In this case, an alternate meal does not meet the USDA requirements and may not be claimed for reimbursement.  The cost to produce this meal is not an allowable cost to the food program and must be paid for from non-federal funds.
4. “Automated meal payment system” means a web based system which allows parents to deposit funds in student’s meal accounts. The automated meal payment system used in the District is “My School Fees.”
5. “Free meal” means a meal served to a student whose parents have filled out a free & reduced meal application and have qualified, based on federal standards for free meals. The free meal receives the highest federal rate of reimbursement.  The meal is served at no cost to the student.
6. “Meal charging” means allowing students who do not have funds in their account to receive a reimbursable meal, with parents paying for these meals at a later time. Schools are not required to provide meals to students who do not have the funds to pay for the meal.
7. “Over identification” means allowing only those with a need to know the free, reduced price or paid status of a student.  Such information, by regulation, only those who need to know (those who process school meal payments) may know the status of a student.
8. “Parent” means a student’s parent, legal guardian, or custodian.
9. “Paid meal” means a meal served to a student whose parents have not qualified for reduced price or free meals.  This meal receives the lowest amount of federal reimbursement.  The parent must pay the lunch price established by the local school Board.
10. “Reduced-price meals” means a meal served to a student whose parents have qualified for reduced meals.  The federal rate of reimbursement is less than a free meal, but more than a paid meal.  The parent must pay .40/lunch and .30/breakfast.
11. “Reimbursable Meal” means a meal which meets the USDA requirements and may be claimed for payment from the USDA