About School Meals

Elementary Schools

We have a preorder system in our elementary schools. Students who want to buy school lunch sign up on a sign up sheet, in class, before 9 am each morning. They go to the lunch area to pick up their lunches at lunch time. (Students need to sign up the day before for pizza.)

Secondary Schools

Students go to the cafeterias to select their choice of food items during brunch or lunch hours.

Ways to Pay for Meals

1. Cash Method (Secondary only) - Students pay with cash or checks at time of purchase. (They can pay exact amount or an amount more than their purchase and the extra will get deposited into their accounts for future purchases.)
2. Account Method - Money is deducted from a student's account each time a purchase is made, provided there is sufficient fund in the account.

Every student has a lunch account. It is simply his/her name or PAUSD student ID#

• Elementary School Students - The lunch server will deduct $4.75 from a student's account each time (s)he orders and picks up a lunch.
• Secondary School Students - Students enter their pin numbers in pin pads located next to cash registers and the purchase amount is deducted from their accounts. For your student's pin number, please email foodserv@pausd.org or call 650-329-3806.

Ways to Deposit Money Into an Account

1. School sites - Give checks (payable to PAUSD) or cash (cash is not accepted at elementary school offices) to school offices or cafeterias.
2. District Office - Give cash or checks in person or mail checks to the district office at 25 Churchill Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306. Please write your student's name or ID # on the check.
3. Online - Open an account at sendmoneytoschool.com (call 616-842-8882) and charge to your credit card. There is a $3 fee per transaction for this service.
4. Cash is not accepted at elementary school offices. We highly recommend parents to open an account. In addition to being able to make deposits online, you will be able to view your student's lunch activities and balance, transfer funds between accounts and set your own low balance reminder threshold. There is NO FEE to open an account.

The purpose of this policy is to insure compliance with federal requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program. This policy will provide oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances.

The intent of this policy is to establish procedures to address unpaid meal charges.

The provisions of this policy pertain to regular priced school breakfast and lunch meals only - a la carte/snacks windows and second meals are not included. Palo Alto Unified School District provides this policy as a courtesy to households in the event that they forget to add money to their child's account.

Policy

Free Meal Benefit

Free eligible students will be allowed to receive one free breakfast and one free lunch each day. A la carte snack window items and second meals are not part of the USDA Child Nutrition Meal Reimbursement Program and are not included.

Reduced Meal Benefit

Reduced eligible students will be allowed to receive one complete breakfast for $0.30 and one complete lunch for $0.40 each day. If a student is without meal money, they will be allowed to charge their meal. The charge meals offered to students will be a choice from the same reimbursable meals that are available to all students. A la carte snack window items and second meals are not part of the USDA Child Nutrition Meal Reimbursement Program and are not included. Students' whose accounts are already negative and they attempt to get Ala Carte Snacks or Second Meals will be told that their account is not set up to charge for this. The goal is to minimize stigmatizing children with insufficient funds. Parents will be notified via email when their student's account goes into a negative balance. If a student is without meal money on a consistent basis, the School Office will investigate the situation more closely and take further action as needed.

Full Paid Students

Students will pay for meals at the school's published paid meal rate each day (Breakfast-all grade levels $3.00, Lunch Elementary $4.75, Lunch Secondary $5.00). If a student is without meal money, they will be allowed to charge their meal. The charge meals offered to students will be a choice from the same reimbursable meals that are available to all students. A la carte snack window items and Second Meals are not part of the USDA Child Nutrition Meal Reimbursement Program and are not included. Students' whose accounts are already negative and attempt to get a la carte snacks or second meals will be told that their account is not set up to charge for this. Parents will be notified via email when their student's account goes into a negative balance. The goal is to minimize stigmatizing children with insufficient funds. If a student is without meal money on a consistent basis, the School Office will investigate the situation more closely and take further action as needed. If financial hardship exists, parents and families are encouraged to apply for free or reduced priced lunches for their child, if applicable.

Parents/Guardians are responsible for meal payment to the food service program. Online payments are accepted as well as in-person payments to the School Office. Email notices of low or deficit balances are sent to parents/guardians weekly during the school year.

A great breakfast program is offered at Barron Park, Escondido at recess every day and all secondary sites daily!

Thanks to funding from the PAUSD School Board, the following elementary schools offer free breakfast to all students every morning at 7:15 am: Addison, Walter Hays, El Carmelo, Escondido, Barron Park, Fairmeadow and Briones.

Here are some fun facts about school breakfast:

• It’s easy! Instead of running around in the morning trying to make sure your children eat a healthy meal, let us do the work. They can get a great breakfast at school, and there will be no dishes for you to wash!
• It’s affordable! If qualified, your child may be able to get breakfast at a reduced price or for free. If your child already eats a free or reduced priced lunch, they automatically qualify for a free or reduced priced breakfast.
• It’s tasty! Schools now have more variety to choose from when deciding what to offer your children for breakfast. Request a menu so you can view what your child may be eating at school.
• It’s good for the brain! Research suggests that not having breakfast can affect children’s intellectual performance (CDC).

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

You may have heard about a change coming in school lunch this fall. It is true!

After much research on school meals, coupled with the recent release of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2012, the USDA  announced new government regulations that will substantially change school meal requirements for the first time in decades.

Here in the Palo Alto Unified School District, we began making similar changes to our menus a few years ago. Many of our menu items are now made with healthier ingredients such as whole grains.

Please take some time and revisit our menus as they offer new items such as soup, tortellini, fish tacos, etc. We have also been modifying recipes to include less sodium and saturated fat. Students will be offered foods from five food groups (grains, fruit, vegetable, protein, and dairy) and they must take at least 3 of the 5 menu items. In addition, they must always take at least half cup of a fruit or vegetable.

Please be proactive and talk with your child about the USDA ChooseMyPlate. We will use this identifier to try and help students put into practice the guidelines needed to help them build healthier meals. Visit USDA ChooseMyPlate for more information.