School Nutrition Services

The School Nutrition staff at each school invites and encourages your child’s participation in the breakfast, lunch, and snack programs.  Nutritious meals and snacks are planned, prepared, and served daily.  All meals meet the dietary guidelines for students in the specified grade levels. Contact the school district’s director of School Nutrition, at 912-212-8620 with any questions you may have concerning school nutrition services. 

Menu Choices

Students are provided menus with choices for breakfast and lunch in all schools regardless of grade structure.  A breakfast cereal line and hot food bar are offered daily. Middle and high school students are offered such choices as grill items, chef salads, pizza, cold sandwiches, and the traditional hot meals for lunch.  Elementary students can choose between a hot line, sandwich line, or salad daily. 

Offer-Versus-Serve Method

We use an offer-versus-serve method for all students. This means our food service staff will offer students food items, but students are allowed to refuse any food items they do not want.  The offer-versus-serve method reduces our food costs by decreasing waste, yet the meal qualifies for reimbursement through the National School Lunch and National School Breakfast programs.

Purchasing A Second Serving or A-La-Carte Items

Students are offered an initial regular meal before being allowed to purchase additional seconds and any a-la-carte items.  These items are available in addition to the school meal and are not intended to be sold individually to make a meal. Any item sold in the school must meet the requirements of our local wellness policy. 

These meal prices are consistent with prices charged in other school systems with similar demographics. Each local school nutrition staff and the nutrition department staff are available to assist in any way possible to assure that the program teaches good nutrition practices and promotes healthy eating habits.

Community Eligibility Provision
Two of our schools, Langston Chapel Elementary School and Langston Chapel Middle School, are eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision program. Children at these schools can receive breakfast and lunch meals at no charge for the entire school year. Families with children at these schools do not have to complete free and reduced meal applications.

Meal Prices for Breakfast

• Free - Breakfast is Free to all students
• $2.25 - Breakfast for Adults (coffee available with meal)
• $2.25 - Additional meal servings for students and adults

Meal Prices for Lunch

• Free - Students eligible for free lunch. Complete a Free and Reduced Meal Application.
• $0.40 - Students eligible for reduced lunch. Complete a Free and Reduced Meal Application
• $2.25 - Elementary school students
• $2.50 - Middle and high school students.
• $3.50 - Lunch for employees and volunteers (Tea available with meal)
• $4.00 - Visitors (Parents, vendors, spouses of employees)
• $3.50 - Additional meal servings for students and adults

Meals for Parents & Visitors

Parents and visitors are permitted to visit children during mealtime, meal costs for visitors are $2.25 for breakfast, $4.00 for lunch, and $3.50 for seconds of meal servings.

Bulloch County Schools uses the My School Bucks website and mobile application (app) to provide parents and guardians the convenience of placing money on their child’s meal account in advance. This is the preferred method of paying for school meals. Simply go to the My School Bucks website or download the mobile application  from Google Play or the Apple App Store to enroll and start using the site to deposit funds into your student’s meal account. Once your account is established, you can check balances or fund the account anytime from your home computer, cell phone, or any Internet-enabled digital device. Your information is safe and secure. Your personal and payment card information is protected by the most advanced Internet security. Call (855) 832-5226 for more information.

If you pay manually instead, please note that payment is due at meal time.  You can place funds on your child’s account in advance by sending  payments in a sealed envelope with your child’s first and last name, homeroom teacher, and payment amount on the outside of the envelope. Include the student’s first and last name on the check. If the School Nutrition Department receives two checks marked insufficient funds on a student/family account, the program will no longer accept checks as the method of payment for school meals for that student/family for the current school year.

Payment is due at meal time.  There is a No-Charge policy for high schools.  Elementary and middle school students without cash or available funds on an account will be allowed to accumulate charges for only five days.  At that point the account must be paid before allowing additional charges.  Negative balance letters and telephone calls are issued to the parents and guardians weekly as a reminder of unpaid balances.

Bulloch County Schools will provide all children free breakfast; however, for school lunch benefits, parents and guardians must apply for school meal benefits each year by completing a Free and Reduced-price Meal Application. Parents are responsible for providing this information for a child to receive meal benefits. Instructions for how to complete the form are included with the application. Incomplete applications cannot be processed and will be returned.

1. Who Should Complete an Application? 
   1. New students: moving into the school system must complete an application immediately. Meal status does not transfer across county and state lines. 
   2. Prior year students who received benefits the prior year in Bulloch County are eligible to continue these benefits until September 29, of the new school year or until a new application is processed, whichever comes first. After this date, students without an approved application are required to pay full price for meals. 
   3. Parents of Pre-Kindergarten students will receive a packet of information upon registration.
2. Complete an Application Online or Manually 
   1. Online - You may also complete it online by visiting My School Apps.
   2. Manually - Each year during the first week of school, the school district distributes free and reduced-price meal applications to all students in a family. Applications are also available anytime from the School Nutrition Office located at 18201 U.S. Highway 80 West.  
      1. Please complete only one form listing each child and the school each child attends. 
      2. Return the application to the cafeteria manager’s office at your child’s school for processing. The school nutrition program does not accept any responsibility for applications returned to someone other than the cafeteria manager. 
      3. For after-hours convenience and expedited processing, a secure drop box is provided at the School Nutrition Office, 18201 US Highway 80 West, Statesboro, GA 30458. 
      4. All applications will be processed within 10 days of the receiving date. 
3. Meal Payments During Processing Period - Parents are responsible for payment of all meals during the application processing period. 
4. Notification of Application Status - Parents or guardians will be notified by mail if the application is approved or denied. 

Nutritious meals are served at all schools. Students are given a choice of hot or cold breakfast and several choices for their lunch meals, such as, sandwich lines, chef salads, and hot meals. Menus are published on the district webpage and printed in The Statesboro Herald.

Children who are not allowed to eat or drink certain foods or drinks because of allergies or food intolerance must obtain and place on file with the school nutrition office a letter from a doctor that indicates that the student is not to be given that food or drink.  Without a letter on file, students will be given the regularly scheduled menu for the day.  For example, if a student brings a drink from home because he or she is not able to drink milk provided with the meal due to allergies, we must have a doctor’s note on file that indicates that the student is not to be given milk. The letter on file will stay on file until the school nutrition office receives a letter from the parent asking for the allergy or intolerance notice to be removed.

The School Nutrition Program's regulations require that meals offered in the schools must meet the meal patterns identified in the program regulations.  Food substitutions may be made for medical or special dietary needs on a case-by-case basis if supported by a statement signed by a recognized medical authority.  A recognized medical authority may include physicians, physician assistants, or nurse practitioners.

An  Authorization for Meal Modification Form can be completed by the parent or guardian. It contains the required information needed to accommodate your child.  Your child's health is very important to us. Please have your medical authority complete and return the form to the following address:

Bulloch County Schools
Attn: School Nutrition Director
18201 Hwy 80 West
Statesboro, GA 30458

• Be sure to sign on the parent or guardian signature line.
• The School Nutrition Program utilizes the Offer versus Serve meal service at our elementary schools, middle and high schools, except for Pre-Kindergarten. This means your child may be able to make choices for his meal and choose something else to which he or she is not allergic. School Nutrition personnel will make every attempt to accommodate your child’s dietary needs; however, if your child requires a special dietary item that is not on the district's grocery bid, you may need to supply a particular item(s).
• Please know the School Nutrition Program is not able to handle the vegetarian and/or religious (i.e. no pork) dietary requests.
• Parents and students are able to view school menus on the Bulloch County Schools website, and elementary children receive a copy to review monthly and make accommodations for meals from home.
• Your child's signed Authorization for Meal Modification Form will stay on file until the school district's School Nutrition Department receives written notification from the parent/guardian to remove it.