School is officially back in session in the Carbon School District which means the Nutrition Director, Patti Rigby along with her staff have been busy behind the scenes preparing breakfast and lunch menus for students this year.
There have been several additions to the free breakfast program this year. “Some of the requests by students for new menu items were, for example link sausage as a side choice, an entrée request was sausage, egg, and muffin sandwich. We were able to add this because we found the healthiest options available so that is became USDA compliant,” stated Rigby. Breakfast times vary between schools but will usually start 20 to 25 minutes before the first bell rings
The lunch menu has added some new food options as well as Rigby explains, “We have chicken drumstick, we will have original, breaded or glazed. For Asian Cuisine day, which is every Tuesday, students will be given a spicy or non-spicy choice of Teriyaki Chicken vs Kung Pao Chicken or Lemongrass chicken vs General Tso’s chicken. We hope this helps kids acquire a taste for different world region flavors.” Parents are always welcomed to join their students for lunch anytime by letting Kitchen Managers know a day in advance, the cost for parents is $3.75.
Heidi Anderson, Nutrition and Wellness Secretary spoke about the new online option of applying for free/reduced lunch, “Parents this year have the option of going paperless and filling the application out online. They can do it at carbonschool.org by following the SIS link. We are hoping that parents will take advantage of the resource.” If your student received free/reduced lunch last year they must re-apply each school year to receive them again.
The payment system for lunch accounts is also available online. “In the next few days there should be a link on the Carbon School District homepage and they can just follow the link and they can pay their students lunch account there. But we do have to charge a 3 percent fee because it’s with Square and they charge us that. But we have had enough feedback that said people are usually ok with the 3 percent fee,” stated Anderson. The district believes that this is a quick and convenient way for parents to make payments throughout the school year.
To learn more about the Nutrition Program please visit their website at http://lunch.carbonschools.org/