Spencerport Central School District

The Community Eligibility Provision allows schools with a higher poverty rate to provide free meals to students based on the Identified Student Percentage. The Identified Student Percentage (ISP) is the percentage of enrolled students who are certified for free school meals without submitting a household application, such as those directly certified through specific federal benefits programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Which schools in Spencerport qualify for CEP?  
All six schools in Spencerport qualify. All students may receive a free meal for breakfast and lunch every school day.

Do staff and teachers get to eat at no cost too?
No – meals are available at no cost only to enrolled STUDENTS at your school. Staff may purchase meals in the cafeteria. 

What food is free according to CEP?  
Complete meals are free – they consist of at least three of the five food components offered (one milk, grain, protein, fruit, and vegetable). A la carte items such as snacks, drinks, ice cream, second milk, or second entrée must be paid for.

What if students only want to purchase a single item – like a milk or an entrée?
CEP requires that only complete meals be served at no-cost. We encourage students and families to take advantage of this by planning accordingly. Individual items may be purchased as an a la carte, but please note that your student’s accounts will be charged if they do not take a complete meal.

Families DO NOT need to complete a free and reduced meal application to receive the benefit of the CEP program  However, in order to continue this program for our entire district, it is extremely important that families complete the Alternate Income Form.

Income-eligible families who complete the alternate income form may qualify for a variety of fee waivers, including Advanced Placement tests (AP exams), SAT exams, ACT exams, and dual credit courses.  SAT, ACT, AP exam fee waivers are based on family size and income level. This would be a letter on district letterhead that states the student is eligible based on the information provided. Income Guidelines for 2025-2026 are below:

 

What is Mosaic?

Mosaic is a computerized money and meal count system.  This improves the level of service to the parents and students.  It helps us better manage student payments and meal eligibility as well as simplify cash handling and the pre-payment process.  Students enter their student ID# or swipe the ID card and pay using their account balance or cash for their purchase.  They can also add money to their account at the register with cash or a check. Mosaic is for all students as well as teachers and staff.  

How do I make a deposit? 

Create your free MySchoolBucks account to conveniently and securely add money to your student’s meal account online or with the mobile app. With MySchoolBucks you’ll be able to view cafeteria purchases, check your student’s balance, receive low balance alerts and pay for school meals from anywhere! 

Get Started Today: 

1. Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app 

2. Create your free account and add your students using their school name / student ID 

3. Add funds using your credit / debit card or electronic check 
   **Note: For each transaction, you will be charged a program fee of $3.50.  If adding money to multiple student accounts at the same time, only one fee of $3.50 will be charged.

There are additional options to avoid the program fee: 

• sending cash or a check with your student to be given to the cafeteria cashier or main office staff  

• mailing a check or bringing cash to the Food Service Office located in the administration building:  71 Lyell Ave, Spencerport, NY  14559. 

• Checks are to be made payable to:  Spencerport School Lunch Fund.  Please note the student name on the check or send a note with the check to be sure it is applied to the student account. 

If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com. Or, you can contact MySchoolBucks directly by logging into your account to start a chat conversation or give them a call at (855) 832-5226.  If you have questions, you may contact my administrative assistant, Andrea Romano at (585)349-5190 or by email at aromano@spencerportschools.org. 

 

Meal charging and prohibition against meal shaming plan

It is the district's goal to provide students with access to nutritious, no-or low-cost meals each school day and ensure students with unpaid meal charges are not shamed or treated differently than a student with fully-paid accounts.

Unpaid meal charges place a large financial burden on the district. The intent of this plan is to establish procedures to address unpaid meal charges throughout the district in a way that does not stigmatize, distress, or embarrass students. The provisions of this plan pertain to regular priced reimbursable school breakfast, lunch, and snack meals only. Charging of items outside of the reimbursable meals (a la carte items, adult meals, etc.) is expressly prohibited.

Students and families should also review District Policy 5660: Meal Charging and Prohibition Against Meal Shaming.
 

Access to Meals

1. Free meal benefit eligible students will be allowed to receive a free breakfast and lunch meal of their choice each day. A la carte items or other similar items must be paid/prepaid.
2. Reduced meal benefit eligible students will be allowed to receive a breakfast of their choice at no charge and lunch of their choice at no charge each day.
3. Full pay students will pay for meals at the district's published paid meal rate each day.
    

Charging Meals

The charge meals offered to students will be the reimbursable meals available to all students.

Meals may be charged within the following parameters:

1. Students are allowed to charge the dollar equivalent of three reimbursable meals before parental notification procedures begin. If a student comes to school and requests a meal after they have exhausted the balance on their account, the district will provide a reimbursable meal (charged to the account) so that the student does not go hungry that day;
2. The only item permitted to be charged is a complete reimbursable meal. A la carte items such as snacks or ice cream may not be charged;
3. Parents who do not want their child to charge a meal may notify the School Lunch Office in writing. A “no charging” alert will be placed in the point-of-sale system to alert the cashier.
4. Nothing in this section is intended to allow for the unlimited accrual of debt on school food service accounts.
    

Prohibition against adults charging meals

Adults must pay for their meals at the time of service or set up pre-paid accounts.
 

Family Notification

Unpaid meal charges shall be addressed with the student’s parents/guardians who is responsible for providing funds for meal purchases.

Every week, the Food Service staff will review account balances in the point-of-sale system to identify unpaid balances. Upon review, unpaid accounts totaling greater than $10 will prompt the Food Service staff to send a letter or email to the parent/guardian. Parents/guardians will be notified that a student's meal card or account balance is exhausted and accrued unpaid meal charges are due. A letter or email indicating the meals charged and the amount is sent home to the parent/guardian every week thereafter until payment is received.

If the district does not receive payment after communications are sent home, the Director of Food Services receives notification and shall attempt to resolve the situation with the family and if necessary, the assistance of the school principal. In appropriate circumstances the Director of Food Services may include a repayment schedule.

Unresolved debts to the school food service program may be turned over to district administration or the school attorney for additional action.

The district’s meal charge policy will be distributed to all households and applicable staff in writing at the start of each school year and to new households that transfer into the district during the school year.

As appropriate, district administration may contact Social Services to report a student’s consistent failure to arrive at school with a meal.
 

Ongoing staff training

Staff will be trained annually and throughout the year as needed on the procedures for managing meal charges using the State Education Department (SED) webinar or the district's training program. Staff will receive annual refresher training on the district’s point-of-sale procedures, Meal Charging and Prohibition Against Meal Shaming procedures, and the procedures for managing students and preventing meal shaming. Staff training will include ongoing eligibility certification for free or reduced-price meals.
 

Family outreach

Staff will provide parents/guardians with free and reduced-price application and instructions at the beginning of each school year in the school enrollment packet.

In the event a student has charged five or more meals to their account,

1. The School Lunch Office will attempt to determine if a student is directly certified to be eligible for free meals.
2. The School Lunch Office will make two attempts to reach out to parents/guardians to complete a free or reduced-price meal application in addition to the application and instructions provided in the school enrollment packet.
3. District staff will contact the parent/guardian to help with completion of the application for free and reduced-price meals to determine if there are other issues within the household causing the student to have insufficient funds, offering any other assistance that is appropriate.
    

Communications

Information on the mySchool Bucks system to prepay meals is available. Funds should be maintained in accounts to minimize the possibility that a student may be without meal money on any given day.

Parents/guardians accessing the districtwide payment system (mySchoolBucks) have the ability to set up an email alert for unpaid balances.

The Food Service Director may confer with the building principal, social worker, guidance counselor, or other authorized staff for assistance in contacting the parents/guardians.

Parents/guardians with unpaid meal accounts shall be provided with information, assistance, and accessibility to free and reduced meal applications by Food Service staff. All parents/guardians shall be informed of eligibility of free and reduced meals at the start of the school year.
 

Minimizing student distress

District staff will make all effort to minimize student distress in the enforcement of the meal charge policy and the collection of debt for unpaid meal charges. The parent/guardian will be confidentially notified of their negative balance. Food service staff will exercise the following:

1. Staff will not announce or publicize the name of any student with unpaid meal charges or discuss any outstanding meal debt in the presence of any other students.
2. Students with unpaid meal charges will not be required to wear a wristband or handstamp, or to do chores or other work to pay for meals.
3. Students will not be required to throw away a meal after it has been served because of the student's inability to pay for the meal or because of previous unpaid meal charges.
4. Staff will not take any action directed at a student to collect unpaid meal charges.
5. Staff will deal directly with parents/guardians regarding unpaid meal charges.
    

Procedures to enroll in the Free and Reduces Price Meals Program

The district shall follow the procedures to enroll in the Free and Reduced-Price Meals Program as set forth by the New York State Education Department Child Nutrition Unit.

Such procedures shall include, at the beginning of the school year, the district providing a free, printed meal application in every school enrollment packet and accessibility through this website.

The Director of Food Service will review the applications and determine eligibility according to New York State Education Department guidelines, including direct certification and Department of Social Services certification for qualified individuals.

The Director of Food Service will notify parents/guardians by letter if their children qualify or do not qualify for free and reduced meals.

Each student enrolled in the free and reduced meal program in the previous year is automatically granted a 30-school day grace period at the start of the school year for the parents/guardians to submit a new application. The grace period will end after 30-school days or after a new application is processed and new eligibility determination is made.
 

Ongoing eligibility certification

Staff will conduct direct certification through the New York Student Identification System (NYSSIS) or using SED Roster Upload to maximize free eligibility.

If the district uses an electronic meal application, it will provide an explanation of the process in the school enrollment packet and instructions on how to request a paper application at no cost.

The district will use its administrative prerogative to complete an application on a student's behalf judiciously, and only after using exhaustive efforts to obtain a completed application from the student's parent/guardian. The district will complete the application using only available information on family size and income that falls within approvable guidelines.

The district will coordinate with the foster, homeless, migrant, and runaway coordinators to certify eligible students.

Before the annual 30-day grace period for free and reduced meals is exhausted, the Food Service Office will contact the parent/guardian by letter or email if a new application for free and reduced meals has not been submitted.

The liaison will contact the Food Service Director to provide written notice that a student is designated as homeless. foster, or migrant and qualifies for free meals on an immediate basis.

The Food Service Director will update the point-of-sale system to designate the student for free meals and maintain a listing for audit purposes.

Prepaid accounts

Students/parents/guardians may pay for meals in advance via mySchoolBucks or with a check payable to Spencerport School Lunch Fund. Funds should be maintained in accounts to minimize the possibility that a student may be without meal money on any given day. Any remaining funds for a particular student will be carried over to the next school year.

To obtain a refund for a withdrawn or graduating student, a written or e-mailed request for a refund of any money remaining in the student's account must be submitted to the School Lunch Office. Students who are graduating at the end of the year will be given the option to transfer any remaining money to a sibling's account through a written request. In the event that an account balance remains for more than $10, Food Service Staff with make a notification in writing to the parents/guardians.

Unclaimed funds must be requested within one school year. Unclaimed funds will then become the property of the Spencerport School District Food Service Program.

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Contact

The Food Service Director, Gary Miner, may be contacted regarding the plan at 585-349-5190 or by email at GMiner@Spencerportschools.org.

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The Spencerport Food Service Program will work with parents to make reasonable accommodations which adhere to the guidelines set forth by the USDA and the National School Lunch Program. Before an accommodation can be made, a medical statement from your child’s physician must be submitted to the school nurse.

Reasonable accommodations:
The District will make reasonable accommodations to those children whose disabilities restrict their diets, such as providing substitutions or modifications in the regular meal pattern. These meal substitutions will be offered at no extra charge. However, the school food service in not required to provide meal services (for example, School Breakfast Program) to students with disabilities when the meal service is not normally available to the general student body, unless a meal service is required under the student’s individualized education plan (IEP) or Section 504 Accommodation Plan as mandated by a physician’s written instructions.

Modifications will be made to accommodate a disability will be determined on a case-to-case basis. Health concerns or preferences that a child eat a specific diet because the parent/guardian believes it is healthier for the child are not disabilities and do not require a modification.

The modification provided:   
•    Should be related to the disability or limitations caused by the disability
•    Does not have to be the modification requested
•    Must (generally) be free of charge
•    Should be implanted even when the person requesting the modification believes more should be done

Medical statement requirements:
•    Provide information about impairment – diagnosis is not required
•    States how diet is restricted
•    States how to accommodate condition

If the medical statement relates to a food allergy, the following are the three essential components:
1.    The food to be avoided (allergen)
2.    Brief explanation of how exposure affects the student
3.    Recommended substitutes

Family notification: 
The District will provide notification to parent/guardians of its meal modification procedures via the following sources:
1.    District website – the website will include information on the modification procedures.
2.    By request – The meal modification plan will be available to all parents/guardians by request from a teacher or building principal.

Where to send requests: 
The Request for Meal Modification form should be sent to the school nurse in the building the student attends.

Appeal procedure:
If a meal modification is denied, an appeal can be directed to the building principal in charge of the building at which the student attends.
A response will be provided, and every attempt will be made to provide a prompt and equitable resolution. If resolution cannot be reached, a parent/guardian may request and participate in an impartial hearing to resolve the grievance, with the opportunity to examine the complete record. After the hearing, the parent/guardian will receive notice of the final decision and the basis for the decision.

Meal Modification Request form