School Nutrition Program & Student Meals

Students with a negative meal balance will continue to receive the same school meal offered to all students. There is no alternate meal option based on account balances. Meal service is not changed or limited due to a negative balance.

Robertson County Schools is committed to treating all students with dignity and respect during meal service. Students receiving free or reduced-price meals are not identified or distinguished from other students. 

Schools in the Community Eligibility Provision program provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students enrolled at eligible schools. CEP eligibility is based on the percentage of students who qualify through specific federal program guidelines.

Several Robertson County Schools participate in the CEP program, though eligibility may change from year to year. CEP eligibility is based on the percentage of students who qualify through certain federal assistance programs, such as SNAP, and those numbers can change from year to year.

In addition to CEP schools, RCS School Nutrition Program has provided breakfast at no cost to all students in all schools districtwide since 2016 through funding from the School Nutrition Department. Continued funding for universal breakfast depends on program costs, available funding, and reimbursement levels.

Yes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government provided funding that allowed schools across the country to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students.

After federal funding for universal free meals ended, RCS School Nutrition Program continued providing breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years using available School Nutrition Program funds that had accumulated during the pandemic years.

That decision was recommended by the School Nutrition Department and district leadership, and approved by the Board of Education, to continue supporting families as the community transitioned out of the pandemic period.

The additional cost of continuing no cost meals locally was approximately $1.2 million per year and was funded through the School Nutrition program, not through school operating budgets or local taxpayer funding.

Those additional funds are no longer available to continue districtwide no cost lunch meals for all students at this time.

RCS School Nutrition Program has provided breakfast at no cost to all students in all schools districtwide since 2016 through funding from the School Nutrition Department. Continued funding for universal breakfast depends on program costs, available funding, and reimbursement levels.

Meals provided to students must still be paid for, even if a meal account has an unpaid balance. At the end of the school year, any unpaid charges become a cost to the assigned school.

Families are encouraged to check meal account balances regularly and make payments when possible to help support the meal program for all students.

During the school year, school cafeteria managers contact families regarding unpaid balances of $25.00 or more every Friday.

As part of that outreach, families may also be encouraged to complete a free or reduced-price meal application if they may qualify for assistance. These federally funded programs can help cover the cost of student meals for eligible families, and staff work to ensure families are aware of the resources available to them.

RCS School Nutrition Program has partnered with FIG K-12 Nutrition to help support communication. The company assists with communicating unpaid meal balances to families through text messaging. Families receive unpaid balance notifications by text and have the option to make payments electronically through their phone, providing a convenient way to fund their unpaid balance.

Students are treated the same as all other students during meal service.

At the point of sale, students enter their account number just as they normally would. Meal account information is handled privately, and other students are not aware of a student’s account balance.

Students receiving free or reduced-price meals are not identified or distinguished from others.

Families who may need assistance are encouraged to apply for free or reduced-price meals at any time during the school year. Applications are found on the Robertson County Schools district website, or one can be sent home by contacting the student’s school.

In addition, the School Nutrition Program works with the Family Resource Center and other school support staff to help connect families with available resources and assistance programs when needs are identified.

Visit the Free or Reduced-Price webpage for an application.