Sioux City Community Schools -

To support a healthy learning environment, a nutritious food service program will be provided that accords with all state and federal requirements. All buildings will provide breakfast and lunch meal service. Students may bring their own lunches to school and purchase milk. Students with special dietary needs may have an altered menu after the parent turns in a special dietary request form to the child’s school. A physician must complete the form on behalf of the student. The District is unable to make special accommodations based on religious beliefs. Free and reduced meal applications are available at each school, as well as on the District website. Lunch counts and attendance are taken in the morning. If your child will be coming to school later in the morning and intends to eat hot lunch, the school must be notified by 9:00 a.m. in order to have an accurate count.

Parents are able to add money to their child’s account and view purchases via MySchoolBucks. An email and text message (SMS) will be sent to notify parents and guardians when their child’s account balance has reached a low or negative balance. An email will also be sent. In addition, students will be notified in the payment line. An elementary account can go as far negative as $15.75, a middle school account can go as far negative as $17.25, and a high school account can go as far negative as $17.70.

Once an account reaches the negative status, the student can select an alternate meal of either a peanut butter or cheese sandwich, fruit or vegetable, and milk. Students in middle and high school are not allowed to charge ala carte items once their account is negative. Students who qualify for free meals shall never be denied a reimbursable meal, even if they have accrued a negative balance from previous purchases.

Families who earn less than 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals and those with incomes between 130 and 185 percent of the poverty level qualify for reduced-price meals. The prices for a paid breakfast and lunch are approved by the Board of Education and the price of a reduced-price meal is established by the federal government.

To determine your eligibility for free or reduced-price meals, please read the guidelines and complete the online application. You must fill out a new application every year. The new application will be available on July 15, 2023. For more information about the application process, call 712-279-6860.

For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website or review the public release of guidelines from the USDA.