Food Services

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a funding option under the National School Lunch Act that allows eligible schools to provide free meals to all students.

No, families do not need to fill out an application for their child to gain eligibility for breakfast and lunch at no cost. We do encourage families to still fill out the application in order to leverage additional benefits they may be eligible for, such as discounted home internet service, academic testing fees, college applications, and more.

In September 2023, the United States Department of Agriculture approved a change to the CEP that made more children eligible. The change allowed the HCSD to qualify and apply for the program.

With the CEP designation, all children in all HCSD schools can receive one healthy breakfast and one nutritious lunch per full school day.

A healthy lunch always consists of five components: a protein, grain, fruit, vegetable, and milk. To be considered a full meal, children must choose at least three of these components, including either a fruit or vegetable. A full breakfast consists of four components: two grains (main entree), one cup of fruit/juice or a vegetable, one cup of milk. Students must choose three of the four components offered with one of those components being a fruit/juice or vegetable.

Yes, snacks and Á la carte items (including milk) are available. However, students will need cash or funds in their prepaid accounts to make these purchases. Also, only the first breakfast and first lunch of the day are free. A second breakfast or lunch would need to be purchased. 

• Second Breakfast K-12, $2.10
• Second Lunch K-5, $3.10
• Second Lunch 6-12, $3.35
• Á la carte items are priced accordingly.

You can add funds by sending a check or cash to your child's school or virtually through MySchoolBucks, an online school meal payment system (transaction fee applies to online payments). If paying with cash or check, please have your child take the payment to the kitchen during breakfast or lunch. 

Parents can either request a refund from the Food Services Department or leave the funds in their student’s account for à la carte items or snacks. Please send an email to Andrea Shoulars to request a refund. Please include first name, last name and ID # of the student. Also, include parent/guardian name and address where the reimbursement check should be mailed. If there is automatic replenishment on your student's MySchoolBucks account, please stop it before requesting meal account reimbursement.

No-cost breakfasts and lunches are not retroactive, and any negative debt incurred prior to November 1, 2023 will remain on the student’s account until payment is received.

According to State guidelines, in order to access the free meal benefit, a child must take what counts as a full meal, which means choosing at least three of the five components (including a fruit or vegetable) that make up the meal. Food Services staff will guide your child in understanding what constitutes a full meal.

HCSD offers a variety of food options. If your child has dietary restrictions, you can provide a doctor's note, which will be kept on file and incorporated into your child's official account.

No, meals and food at schools are not funded by your school tax dollars. Instead, the funding comes from Federal and State taxes.