School Meals

The following major food allergens are used as ingredients:

Milk, Egg, Fish, Wheat, Soy, and Sesame *(Crustacean Shellfish, Tree Nuts, Peanuts are not used per District policy, but included as top major allergens)*

Please notify a food employee for more information about these ingredients.

Shaker's food service partner, Aramark Student Nutrition, maintains completely nut-free kitchens. SunButter, a sunflower seed butter is offered and free from the Top 9 Allergens. Please contact your individual schools to see their policies on nut allergies.

The USDA’s liquid milk/ dairy intolerance policy states that nutrition services do not need to provide a substitution for liquid milk. If your child is lactose intolerant, he or she may decline the offered liquid milk as part of the plate meal and each school building does have potable water readily available.

Vegetarian options are available upon request. Please see your school's menu for more information.

Aramark Student Nutrition is able to accommodate special dietary needs including allergen-free, gluten-free and vegetarian needs as requested. Please contact your school nurse for more information. Additional documentation may be required.

Payment for meals is accepted either via check or credit card. To pay via check, please make all check payments out to Shaker Food Service. To pay via credit card, please refer to the information below on using PaySchools Central.

Online Payments

PaySchools Central offers parents a user-friendly experience and a one-stop shop for school meal payments, fees and free and reduced meal applications.

• To set up an account, you will need your e-mail address that is on file with the District, a credit card and your student’s ID number. There is no transaction fee.

• If need to register for a PaySchools account, read these instructions.

• For questions, please contact your building’s office or PaySchools Central directly at psc_help@payschools.com or call 877-393-6628 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

Please note, PaySchools Central works best on Chrome, Firefox and Edge browsers. There is also a mobile app for Android and Apple users.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, religious creed, disability, age, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits.  Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.  Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: How to File a Complaint, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992.  Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: 

1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
   Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
   1400 Independence Avenue, SW
   Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
2. fax: (202) 690-7442; or 
3. email: program.intake@usda.gov.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Shaker Heights City School District’s Food Service Program recognizes that adequate nutrition is essential to students’ mental, physical and academic growth. All children (grades K-12) participating in the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), whether at a free, reduced or paid rate, will receive a breakfast and/or lunch meal that meets USDA requirements, regardless of whether the students have sufficient money in the meal-charge accounts or cash-in-hand to pay for the cost of the meal at the time of the service.

Purpose:

This policy is established to provide consistent meal charge account procedures throughout the District.

Policy Goals:

1. To treat all students and families with dignity and respect.
2. To establish a consistent District policy regarding charges and collection of charges.
3. To encourage parents and guardians to assume the responsibility of meal payments and to promote self-responsibility of the student.
4. To support positive interactions with District staff, District business policies, students and parents/guardians to the maximum extent possible.

Responsibilities:

Parents/Guardians: Parents/Guardians are responsible for paying for all of their student’s meal charges. Uncollected meal charges shall be handled the same as any other school debt. Repeated failure to address meal charges may result in referral to an agency for collection. All meals eaten before a free or reduced-price meal application is processed or approved are the responsibility of the parent and must be paid for in a timely manner. Parents are encouraged to use PaySchools Central to pay for meals and/or to track purchases made by their student(s). Parents, who wish to prohibit their students from charging meals, can contact the Food Service Department and request the student account be closed.

Food Service Department: The Food Service Department is responsible for maintaining charge records and notifying the Treasurer’s Office of outstanding balances. The Food Service Department will issue a notice to parent(s) whose student(s) has a delinquent account. Twice a month, the Food Service Department will run a report showing all student accounts with a negative food account balance. The Food Service Department will provide this notification letter to the respective school office which will send the notice to the parent(s).

The Food Service Department is responsible in providing a meal which meets the School Breakfast Program (SBP) or National School Lunch Program (NSLP) requirements to all students. If a student has a negative balance of $20.00 in his/her student account and does not have adequate money in hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of service, an alternative meal of the District’s choice will be provided at no cost to the student. After three no-cost alternative meals, all alternative meals will be charged against the student’s account.

District: The School District is responsible for supporting the Food Service Department in debt collection activities. Unpaid meal charges will be carried over at the end of the school year as a delinquent debt and collection efforts may continue into next school year.

Federal guidelines prohibit the Food Service Department from writing off bad debts as a result of charged meals. Every effort will be made to collect for unpaid meals. While not all inclusive, these measures may include the following:

• An automated telephone call to the parent.
• An email sent to the parent.
• School meal/lunch coordinator contacts parent(s) by phone
• School meal/lunch coordinator sends notices to place in teachers’ mailboxes for students.
• School meal/lunch coordinator sends letters home from the Food Service Department.

When a student repeatedly comes to school without a meal from home or money to participate in the school meal program, such requests may indicate the family’s need for free or reduced-price meals. School administrators should work with the family to apply for school meal benefits. School meal status is treated as a confidential matter and should not be a consideration for families considering applying for assistance. School administrators should consider if circumstances in the home warrant contacting social workers or Child Protective Services.

This policy for unpaid meal charges is designed to ensure that all students, who want to eat a school meal, receive a meal without impediment(s). This policy should be reviewed with all school-level staff, including school nurses, school counselors, principals, assistant principals and other administrators.

Revised: September 3, 2019