Cornwall Central School District

We’re excited to announce that ALL students enrolled in Cornwall Central School District are now eligible to receive FREE school Breakfast and Lunch meals—every day, at no cost to families!

What You Need to Know:

• Who qualifies?  Every student in the district — no application needed!
• When does it start? This program is already in effect — enjoy free lunches starting in September!
• Why is this happening? Thanks to State and Federal funding, we’re ensuring no student goes hungry and every child is fueled for learning.

No sign-ups, no paperwork — just delicious, nutritious meals every day!
We’re proud to support the health and well-being of our students and make school a place where everyone can thrive.

This exciting change means that every student will be able to enjoy both a breakfast and a lunch meal at no cost, every school day, regardless of household income.

This news results in real savings for our families:

1. student who eats both breakfast and lunch would save a family $1,082 per year.
2. students who eat both breakfast and lunch would save a family $2,164 per year.

However, students who desire a second breakfast or second lunch will be charged accordingly at ala carte prices.

We do encourage families to complete and return the income applications being sent home. Even though all meals are free, these forms may qualify your household for additional benefits, such as:

• Reduced fees for exams and college applications
• Discounted internet or utility programs
• Access to grocery assistance and more

Have Questions? We're Here to Help!
Email: Martine Noelizaire, Director of Food Services
Cornwall Food Services Department 845-534-8009 x 7704

Please click here for policy on BoardDocs

I. Purpose

The goal of the Cornwall Central School District is to provide student access to nutritious no- or low-cost meals each school day and to ensure that a pupil whose parent/guardian has unpaid school meal fees is not shamed or treated differently than a pupil whose parent/guardian does not have unpaid meal fees.

However, unpaid charges place a large financial burden on our school. The purpose of this policy is to insure compliance with federal requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program, and to provide oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances to ensure that the student is not stigmatized, distressed, or embarrassed.

The intent of this policy is to establish procedures to address unpaid meal charges throughout the Cornwall Central School District. The provisions of this policy pertain to regular priced school breakfast and lunch meals only. The Cornwall Central School District provides this policy as a courtesy to those students in the event that they forget or lose their lunch money. Charging of items outside of the reimbursable meals (a la carte items, adult meals, etc.) is expressly prohibited.

The district will use a computer-generated point of sale system, which identifies and records all meals as well as collects repayments.

Charged meals must be counted and claimed for reimbursement on the day that the student charged (received) the meal, not the day the charge is paid back. When charges are paid, these monies are not to be considered “à la carte” transactions, as a section on the daily cash report or deposit summary reads “charges paid.”

II. Policy

• Free Meal Benefit - Free eligible students will be allowed to receive a free breakfast and lunch of their choice each day. A la carte purchases must be paid/prepaid.
• Reduced Meal Benefit - Reduced eligible students will be allowed to receive a breakfast of their choice for no cost and lunch of their choice for no cost each day.
• Full Pay Students – Students will pay for meals at the school’s published paid meal rate each day. If a student is without meal money on a consistent basis, the administration 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 price lunches for their child if applicable. A student will be allowed to charge meals to their account after the balance reaches zero. The charge meals offered to students will be reimbursable meals that are available to all students. A la carte items or other similar items must be paid/prepaid.
• Parents/Guardians are responsible for meal payment to the food service program. Discreet notices of low or deficit balances will be sent weekly during the school year by email and phone messages through our School Messenger system to parents and guardians.
• Students/Parents/Guardians may pay for meals in advance via PAYPAMS.com or with a check payable to CCSD Food Services. Further details are available on our webpage at www.cornwallschools.com Funds should be maintained in accounts to minimize the possibility that a child may be without meal money on any given day. Any remaining funds for a particular student may/will be carried over to the next school year.
• Refunds for withdrawn, and graduating students may be submitted in writing via mail or email for a refund of any money remaining in their account. Students who are graduating at the end of the year will be given the option to transfer to a sibling’s account with a written request.
• Unclaimed Funds must be requested within one school year. Unclaimed funds will then become the property of the Cornwall Central School District Food Service Program.
• Balances Owed collection of owed balances will follow the policies and procedures set by the school.

ONGOING STAFF TRAINING:

• Staff will be trained annually and throughout the year as needed on the procedures for managing meal charges using the NYSED Webinar or the school’s training program.
• Staff training includes ongoing eligibility certification for free or reduced price meals.

PARENT NOTIFICATION:

• The Food Service Department will send home notices through phone calls, text messages, and email weekly for all student accounts with a low balance ($5.00 or less) and for accounts that have a negative balance.

PARENT OUTREACH:

• Staff will communicate with parents/guardians with five or more meal charges to determine eligibility for free or reduced price meals.
• School staff will make two documented attempts to reach out to parents/guardians to complete a meal application in addition to the application and instructions provided in the school enrollment packet.
• School staff will contact the parent/guardian to offer assistance with completion of meal application to determine if there are other issues within the household causing the child to have insufficient funds, offering any other assistance that is appropriate.
• If a student has an outstanding debt of $10 or more, the Food Service Department will contact the principal. The principal will refer the matter to the school social worker or school counselor who will contact the family.
•  If school food authorities (SFAs) suspect that a student may be abusing this policy, written notice will be provided to the parent/guardian.

MINIMIZING STUDENT DISTRESS:

• School staff will not publicly identify or stigmatize any student on the line or discuss any outstanding meal debt in the presence of any other students.
• Students who incur meal charges will not be required to wear a wristband or handstamp, or to do chores or work to pay for meals.
• School staff will not throw away a meal after it has been served because of the student’s inability to pay for the meal or because of previous meal charges.
• School staff will not take any action directed at a pupil to collect unpaid school meal fees.
• School staff will deal directly with parents/guardians regarding unpaid school meal fees.
• Students shall not be denied a reimbursable meal, even if they have accrued a negative balance from other cafeteria purchases, unless the parent/guardian has provided written permission to the school to withhold a meal.
• No student with unpaid charges will be prohibited from purchasing food if they have money that day.

ONGOING ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATION:

• School staff will conduct direct certification with NYSSIS or using NYSED Roster Upload to maximize free eligibility. NYSED provides updated direct certification data monthly.
• School staff will provide parents/guardians with free and reduced price application and instructions at the beginning of each school year in school enrollment packet.
• School staff will provide at least two additional free and reduced price applications throughout the school year to families identified as owing meal charges.
• Schools will use administrative prerogative judiciously, only after using exhaustive efforts to obtain a completed application from the parent/guardian only with available information on family size and income that falls within approvable guidelines.
• School staff will coordinate with the foster, homeless, migrant, runaway coordinators to certify eligible students. School liaisons required for homeless, foster, and migrant students shall coordinate with the nutrition department to make sure such students receive free school meals, in accordance with federal law.

Adoption date: November 5, 2018;

Re-adopted:  December 16, 2019

Re-adopted:  February 6, 2023

Payments may be made at all schools, in any amount, to the student’s account. This account may be used to purchase school breakfasts, school lunches, and/or snack items. Parents or guardians who wish to restrict their student from using their account to purchase meals only (no snack items) must complete an “Account Restriction” form (see below) and return it to the Cafeteria or Food Service Office. Payment methods are as follows:

Cash Payments: 

Please clearly mark an envelope with your child's name and hand-deliver it to any cashier in your building. 

Check payments:
Please note the child’s name and PIN (if you have it) and make any checks payable to "(Your child’s school name) Cafeteria"

PayPAMS:

• Pay for your child’s meals from the convenience of your home or office 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week using your Visa, MasterCard debit card OR Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards for a fee of $2.95 per student
• Set up automatic payments for your child’s meal account based on the account balance for a fee of $2.95 per transaction per student.
• View what your child purchases from the Cafeteria. Student activity is only displayed from the day the child was added to the PAMS system and is available for 90 days. This feature is available at no charge to all Cornwall School District families whether or not you have prepaid through the PayPAMS system. You just need to register to view your child’s meal activity.
• Registration:
  1. Go to PayPAMS and click on the “Sign Up Now!” button on the home page.
  2. Select your state, then select your school district.
  3. Select "Continue" to agree to the terms and create an account
  4. Complete all required information (marked with red aterisks).
  5. Add children to your account.
  6. Make payments or set up automatic payments based on low balance.
• Flyers:
  • Paypams Flyer - English
  • Paypams Flyer - Spanish​​​​​​​

Account Restriction:

​​​​​​​Parents may wish to restrict their student to purchase meals only. Once restricted, students may not purchase snacks, beverages, etc. using the funds in their cafeteria account. Restricted students may, however, purchase these items if they have cash to pay for their purchases.

To restrict your student, complete the Account Restriction Form (see link  below) and return it to your child's school cafeteria or to the Food Service Office.

• Account Restriction Form

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