School Nutrition Program Information
The objective of The Gilmer County School Nutrition Program is to provide nutritious breakfasts, lunches and snacks to all students in accordance with guidelines provided by the United States Department of Agriculture School Nutrition Program. The meals will play a role in meeting the nutritional needs of the child by providing one-third of their daily requirements of nutrients, and help teach them about nutrition.
Meals served to our students are prepared in a safe and sanitary environment. All employees are trained in safe food handling as well as providing a clean sanitary environment for preparation.
Free and Reduced Price Applications and Meals
All students are eligible to apply for free or reduced price meals. A family application is given to all students on the first day of school each year. These applications need to be filled out and returned to your child's school lunch manager as soon as possible each year. All sections on the application need to be completed as required to prevent delays in approval for your child. Be sure to list all children and adults in the household. All income from adults in the household is required to be listed and if the amount is weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Student Meal Payments and Charges
All Gilmer County schools cafeterias have computer programs to provide accountability of each student's meals. Parents are encouraged to prepay their child's meals for the week, month or even yearly. Monies for your child's meals should be sent in an envelope with the child's name, homeroom and the amount included for each meal. When writing a check to pay for student meals, be sure to include your child's name and ID# on each check. Do not include ice cream monies, monies for snacks or pictures or anything else with your child's breakfast and lunch payments. A history of the meals your child eats can be provided at any time if there is a need. Parents are requested to keep their child's meal payments current. If your child has to charge, there is a limit to the number of charges they can have.
- For PreK-8 no more than 5 days of charges are allowed.
- For 9-12 no more than 2 days of charges are allowed.
Parents need to take care of these charges as soon as possible. It isn't your child's responsibility to answer why these charges haven't been paid, nor should they have to go without meals because you didn't pay for their meals in a timely manner .
By keeping your child's account current, you help to keep our costs at a minimum and we do not have to increase lunch and breakfast prices.