Frequently Asked Questions

 Please see Payments & Balances under Pricing for an itemized list of meal prices.

Child Nutrition Services serves all the required components of meal service in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, including fruits, vegetables, meat/meat alternate, grains, and milk. Furthermore, we operate an Offer vs. Serve program, which allows for a variety of choices within each component. Example: daily varieties of fruit and vegetables, plain and flavored milk, and entree choices. Offer vs. Serve is designed to reduce plate waste and encourage independence by allowing the child to make their own meal choices. At a minimum, a student must select at least three of the five components, including at least a ½ cup serving of fruits or vegetables to receive meal pricing. At a maximum, students may choose one of each component offered for the day.

Unfortunately, meals that contain less than the required three items do not qualify for reimbursement by federal and state authorities, and therefore must be fully covered by the cost of the product. This will result in charging a la carte pricing on those individual items. We encourage all students to take a complete meal not only to ensure they are receiving a nutritionally balanced meal but also for cost savings for the family.

A la carte refers to any item that is purchased outside of the complete meal. There are different standards school food authorities must adhere to for non-program competitive foods and therefore not all items may be purchased a la carte. Standards are dependent on age group and vary for elementary and middle schools. Please refer to your current menu for specific a la carte items offered and pricing at your school. You can read more about a la carte standards and competitive foods on the CDE website.

Complete meals are universally free to all students regardless of income. Evergreen School District has many simple payment options for you to choose from if you choose to purchase a la carte items. Prepaying for these purchases is a simpler way of managing their account and helps the lunch lines move more quickly, giving children more time to enjoy their meal.

• Pay Online: Visit MySchoolBucks.com to make payments, set up low balance alert emails, and track transactions safely and securely anytime.
• Pay at your child’s school: Your student may pay cash or check when they are in the cafeteria. Pre-payments can also be left at the school office during normal business hours. Checks should be made payable to CNS and please include your child’s name and room # when sending in a payment.

We hate to see you go, however if you want a refund on your child’s account please complete the Refund Request Form. A check will be mailed to your home. Please allow up to 30 days. Refunds cannot be issued at the school site.

For fastest service and up to date information, please register for an account at MySchoolBucks.com. You will need your student’s ID number to create an account. You can find your student’s ID number on their report card, registration documents, displayed on their student ID card, or before their email address. You may also ask your teacher, call the school office or contact CNS.

Please read our district policy on meal charges and when a free courtesy meal is provided. Meals on Credit.

Yes. As long as all the students are in Evergreen School District, we can transfer funds from one sibling to another. Please complete the Balance Transfer Request.

In school year 2022-23, California became the first state to implement a statewide Universal Meals Program providing public school students two free meals each school day. The same year, Evergreen School District began participating in Provision 2. Depending on the year of the Provision 2 cycle, some families may be asked to complete either a Free or Reduced Price Meal Application or Education Benefit Form based on income qualifications set forth by the USDA. Completing either form will not affect your student receiving two free meals a school day. However, we encourage all households to complete a Free & Reduced meal application or Education Benefit Form when instructed to do so by the District, even if you plan on sending lunch from home for your student. You can help our schools obtain additional funding to ensure children in our district continue to receive fundamental services just by completing the form.

Please see Free & Reduced Price Meals for information about how to apply.

As part of the Provision 2 base year, Child Nutrition Services collected Free & Reduced Price Meal applications during the 2022-23 school year. Provision 2 reduces the frequency in which applications are collected and processed to once every four years. No new eligibility determinations will be made in non-base years and your eligibility from 2022-23 will carry over for the next three years (or until a new base year is established). New students and incoming transfer students, however, may be asked by the District to complete an Education Benefit Form in non-base years. This form is used by the District to help it receive funding as well as establish the free or reduced status that would make the family eligible for discounted utilities, afterschool programs, etc. Please contact the Child Nutrition Services office if you are not sure if you need to complete a form.

Child Nutrition Services only processes Free & Reduced Price Meal Applications once every four years under Provision 2. If we are collecting applications, once you have submitted your online form, you will receive a confirmation email that it has been received and a separate email with your eligibility status once it has been processed. If you have submitted a hard copy application by mail or at your child’s school, you will receive a letter in the mail with your results once your application has been processed. You may also email our staff secretary or call the CNS office. Your meal application must be processed before your benefits begin. Please allow adequate time for processing, especially at the beginning of each school year when we receive hundreds of applications a day. Please make sure you complete the application by the deadline given. By doing so, you are also taking part in an important process that helps the District secure essential funding for its schools and students.  

Provision 2 is one of four special federal assistance programs available to schools participating in the National Breakfast and Lunch Programs. These alternative provisions are known as Provision 1, Provision 2, Provision 3, and Community Eligibility Provision (or CEP). A benefit of the federal provisions is that it helps reduce the burden on families and staff in completing annual Free & Reduced Price Meal Applications. One of the pillars of California Universal Meals is that high poverty schools are required to participate in a federal provision.

Your eligibility letter is an important document for your records. Qualifying for free or reduced price meals may also make you eligible for other discounts, such as afterschool and summer programs and discounted phone and internet services. However, if you need another copy, simply complete the eligibility letter request form.

There could be a few reasons why this happened, however all TK-8th grade students in your household should be eligible under one application. Please remember that high school students are not a part of the Evergreen School District. You will need to apply separately at your high school district. Please call the CNS office immediately at (408)223-4500 if your eligibility letter does not include all elementary age students in your home.

Schools are required to serve meals at no charge to children whose household income is at or below 130 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines. Children are entitled to pay a reduced price if their household income is above 130 percent but at or below 185 percent of these guidelines. Children are automatically eligible for free school meals if their household receives CalFresh, benefits under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations or the CalWorks program. If you qualify for WIC, you may be eligible for free and reduced price meal benefits. Please contact the CNS office if you have specific questions regarding eligibility.

For the most part, all income actually received by the household is counted. This includes salary, public assistance benefits, social security payments, pensions, unemployment compensation and the like. The only exceptions are benefits under Federal programs which, by law, are excluded from consideration; in-kind benefits, such as military on-base housing (but not military housing allowances); certain kinds of assistance for students and irregular income from occasional small jobs such as baby-sitting or lawn mowing. For more information, contact the CNS office.

A household is defined as a group of related or unrelated individuals who are not residents of an institution or boarding house but who are living as one economic unit. This means they generally reside in the same house and share expenses such as rent, utilities, and food. In this example, therefore, the grandparent’s income would be considered along with any income received by the parent. The principal exception to this rule would be payments for foster children, who live with a household but remain the legal responsibility of the court or welfare agency. In these situations, the child is considered to be a "household of one", and only the income actually made available to the child for personal expenses is counted in making the eligibility determination.

When joint custody has been awarded and the child physically changes residence, the child is considered part of the household where she/he resides. In these situations, if both parents apply for benefits in the same district for the child, and different eligibility statuses result, the greatest benefit level is used. For example, if the mother’s situation results in eligibility for free meals but the father’s application is denied, the child would receive free meals regardless of which parent had custody at the time.