Important information about school meals for families with children in Shoreline Public Schools

Important Information about School Meals

As the school year approaches, the Shoreline Schools nutrition department is sharing information about school meals, including:

• Free and reduced meal applications
• How to load money onto your child’s account
• The basics of meals at school
• A new school menu system for this year
• Meal charge procedures
• How to contribute to the district’s “Angel Fund”
• Our wellness policy
• Allergy accommodation information

Eating school meals will be a lot like it was before COVID and remote learning, but there are a few changes. 

Here are the most important points for the 2022-23 school year.

School Meal Purchasing Options

The USDA school meal waiver that provided free meals for all students last year expired and was not extended by Congress, so we will return to pre-pandemic operations for the 2022-2023 school year.

There are two options for your child to eat meals at school:

Free Meals		Paid Meals
Need help paying for school meals?		Buying school meals or a la carte items?
Fill out a Free and Reduced Meal application.		Load your student's account.
If you qualify, breakfast and lunch are 100% free (no more copays for reduced-price meals) A la carte items must still be purchased with cash in hand or on account (these are snacks and extra food items sold separately from the full school meal)		Breakfast costs $2.00-$2.50 (varies by grade) Lunch costs $3.65-$4.15 (varies by grade) Families will get account low and negative balance notifications Account balances must be positive to purchase a la carte items
Applications available in English, Spanish, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese on our website.		You can learn more about meal accounts and ways to pay on our website.

About School Meals

• Lunch is made up of 5 basic food components: milk, meat or meat alternate, vegetable, fruit, and grain.
• Breakfast is made up of 4 food items: milk, fruit/vegetable, 2 grains (or 1 grain and 1 meat/meat alternate).
• Many of our foods are made from scratch using the best ingredients, including low-fat proteins, whole grain pastas, fresh fruits and vegetables, locally sourced breads, and hormone-free milk.

Menus, nutrition, and allergen information

My School Menu - NEW for 2022-23!

NEW for the 2022-2023 school year, Shoreline School District is displaying all menus through My School Menus powered by Health-e Pro (a Washington State company). Menus can be viewed online or by downloading the My School Menus app from Google Play or the App Store.

Click here to view school menus online

Get the My School Menus app for your mobile device:

Download on the App Store | Get it on Google Play

Angel Fund Donations

The Shoreline School District Angel Fund helps to pay negative meal balances for students in need. If you are interested in donating to this fund with a credit or debit card, please contact our Food Services Office at 206-393-4209. If you have questions, send us an email at nutrition.services@ssd412.org

Donations by check can be mailed to the following address. Please write "Angel Fund" on the notes line.
Mailing Address: Shoreline Food Services, 18560 1st Ave. NE, Shoreline, WA 98155

Meal Charge Procedures

The goal of the school meal program is to provide nutritious meals to students during the school day. 

Students may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them if they are categorically eligible for free meals or if they qualify for free meals based on federal poverty guidelines. 

Sometimes, however, children who do not qualify based on these standards would like a breakfast or lunch but do not have money in their account or in-hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of the meal service. 

The intent of the District Meal Charge Procedures is to ensure responsible financial management of the non-profit food services budget as well as a consistent and transparent student-oriented practice at each school for the responsible financial management of student meal accounts.

Wellness Policy

Children who are healthy, physically fit, and eat well-balanced meals are more likely to learn in the classroom. The district’s Wellness Policy supports increased emphasis on nutrition, as well as physical activity, at all grade levels to enhance the well-being of our district’s youth.

Some key components of our Wellness Policy are:

• Providing students access to and encouraging consumption of nutrient-dense food
• Discouraging the use of food as reward
• Providing opportunities for physical activity and developmentally appropriate exercise
• Providing and promoting accurate, evidence-based information related to health, nutrition, and physical education

For more information about the Wellness Policy, including guidance for snacks at school and other FAQ, please visit our Nutrition and Wellness page.

Allergy Accommodation Information

We are sensitive to the various nutritional needs of our students. If your student has an allergy to any food, please contact your school nurse as soon as possible. The top 8 allergens (soy, wheat, milk, peanut, treenut, egg, fish and shellfish) are flagged on breakfast and lunch menus. 

While there are many more ingredients that can cause allergic reactions, the top 8 are the only allergens required on nutrition labels.

For more information about allergens, special diets, and our procedures, please visit our Allergies and Special Diets page.

The Food and Nutrition Services section of our website is robust and maintained regularly, and it contains a wealth of information that may answer other questions you have.

If you have any additional questions, contact Jessica Jandayan, RDN, CD, SNS, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Shoreline Public Schools, nutrition.services@ssd412.org