Applications:
Free and Reduced Price Meal Application forms are placed on the Los Altos School Districts web site and the individual school web sites as part of their enrollment packet. Applications are available in English and Spanish. Applications may be picked up from the school site office and submitted for processing at any time throughout the school year.
Approval and Notification:
The first week of school, students are requested to return their completed application to the school office for approval. The application is sent to the district office for approval. A student eligible in June will remain eligible at the previous year’s status for a maximum 30 operating days, or until a new application has been determined.
A. Students enrolling in the district will be given an Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals. The application will be a part of the new student enrollment package.
B. Upon receipt of an application, the school Secretary makes sure that the application has all the required information and is signed by the parent or guardian before forwarding it to the Lunch Coordinator.
C. The completed application is then forwarded to the District Office. The Lunch Coordinator will screen each application for final eligibility determination, approval and record maintenance.
D. The letter of notification will be sent to the parent or guardian of each applicant. The letter will show the students eligibility classification. Notification letters will be either mailed home or sent to the student to carry home.
Student Eligibility:
The Lunch Coordinator will prepare a list of students approved or denied by category per school site. This forms the Master Roster. It includes student name and eligibility status. The Master Roster is updated as applications are received and approved. All Master Rosters are maintained for the current year plus three years previous. In the event a student is transferred from a school the attendance secretary will notify the Lunch Coordinator immediately so the student can be taken off the Master Roster and be transferred to the appropriate school.
Changes in Student Eligibility:
Should a student’s eligibility change during the month, the school site would receive a new application. (Applications are now good for the full school year. Exceptions are; temporary approved, verification changes, or incorrectly approved.) This would be reviewed at the site and appropriate changes would be made. The new application would be forwarded to the Lunch Coordinator for parent/guardian notification within three days. This change notice will include student name, category of approval, and date of change. This change will be noted on the Master Roster. There is a ten-calendar day-period of time given to appeal if benefits have been decreased. Once that period of time is over, changes will be made within 3 days for an increase in benefits, and ten days for a decrease. The next step is that they will be forwarded to the District Office.
Meal Accounting System:
The District Office uses a checklist system. A non-coded checklist is used; checklists are coded after the fact by the PTA’s volunteer to avoid overt identification. Free, reduced and paid students remain on the checklist until there is a change in status that is made by a new application. Students paying either for reduced or full price are credited as payments are made.
Checklists are checked at the point of service. An adult or a trained student checks the meals, the entire lunch including milk. Students or adult say child’s whole name as lunch is picked up and checked off.
Free Meals:
Students approved for free lunch will be pre-programmed for that status.
Prepaid Meals:
Full price students may also purchase and pay for their meals on line at the appropriate Vendor site by their parents.
Point of Service Meal Count:
The roster system used by the district is designed to establish Point of Service Accountability as required by law. These procedures are designed to insure that all eligible students fed are properly classified and accounted for, and each meal served contains a sufficient number of items to define a meal.
Field Trips:
Food service staff will be notified, ideally one week in advance of any scheduled event that will affect participation in the school lunch program. These events include activities such as field trips, study days, class parties and other class functions. The cold bag lunches for the students should be picked up and check off before they leave on the field trip. If lunches do not arrive before students leave, make sure they receive them after they return to school. Only check off on checklist if this is before 2PM, other wise meals cannot be claimed
Meal Preparation:
All school lunches are prepared by four different vendors each school site has been determined by their PTA’s at their specific site. These are balanced meals that meet the National Lunch Program requirements. The lunches are delivered to all school sites before lunch. When the sites receive their lunches, they are labeled with the student’s name on the lunches. All school lunches are to be refrigerated or heated until they are distributed to the students.
