| Free & Reduced Lunch Plan |
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It is the parent's responsibility to make sure that the Food Service Manager receives your application for the Free or Reduced Lunch Plan. Each application can take up to 10 days to process. If you have sent in your application and do not receive a letter of approval within 10 - 14 days, please call Eva Mendoza at (623) 742-3956 ext. 105. Please remember, for a faster response time it is best to submit the application as early as possible. On average, we process over 1500 applications at the beginning of each school year. If you prefer to mail in your application, you may send it to the following address: Heritage Elementary A new application must be completed each school year. Any family who has not submitted a new application will have their meal benefits terminated and will be charged $2.00 per meal. To apply for free or reduced-price meals, an adult household member must complete the application and return it to the child's school. One application may be used to list all children in the household, except for foster children (foster children require separate applications). Children in households that are receiving Food Stamps or Cash Assistance (CA) or FDPIR and most foster children in most cases are eligible to receive free meals regardless of your income. Also, your children can receive free or reduced-priced meals if your household income is within the limits on the Federal Income Guidelines that are listed on the Federal Income Chart, shown on the application. You may re-apply at any time during the school year if the size of your household increases, you have a drop in your income, or if you start to receive Food Stamps, CA, FDPIR or other benefits. If you lose your job, your children may be able to get free or reduced price meals as well. Please note that the parent(s) or children do not have to be U.S. citizens to qualify for free or reduced price meals. On your application, you must include all of the people living within your household, related or not (such as grandparents, other relatives, or friends). You must include yourself and all children who live with you as well. If your income is not always the same, list the amount that is most normal. For example, if you normally receive $1000 each month but you missed some work last month and only received $900, list $1000 per month because that is your normal income. If you normally work and receive overtime, include it, but if it is not consistent do not list it. Applications are available in English and Spanish and may be submitted at any time during the school year. School officials may verify application information at any time during the school year. We urge you to take advantage of our prepayment plan. Also, you may place money in your child's account at any time. We strongly encourage payment by check because it is most secure way to transport payment between the home and school. In the event that your child's account is overdrawn and exceeds $6.00 for full-price students and $2.00 for reduce-price students, your child will not be served lunch until their account is paid in full. If you take advantage of our prepayment plan and your child's account is running low, then we will send a notice home with your child as a reminder that your child needs lunch money. You may call Eva Mendoza or Sharie Banbury at 623-742-3956 ext. 105 for child's account balance. |
