Students come to the cafeteria and go through the serving line to pick up their meals. They may be able to make choices on the serving line while the CNS server prepares their plate to reduce waste, or meals may be prepackaged to speed traffic flow through the cafeteria. Students will indicate their Student ID via Touchless Point of Sale System. Students will take their meal back to the classroom to eat, or may eat in the cafeteria while maintaining social distancing if possible. 

Meals are distributed at kiosks, carts or tables that are strategically located for ease of access while complying with social distancing. Meals are packaged as “grab and go” for speed of service. Students pick up their meal and take it to the classroom to eat. Students will indicate their Student ID via Touchless Point of Sale System. 

Students pre-order meals which are prepared and packaged by CNS staff, picked up by school staff or students, and delivered to classrooms. Students are checked off on a roster as they receive their meals. 

Parents must ensure their student has sufficient funds on their child’s prepayment account to pay for their meal, or that their meal benefits application is up-to-date. Cash will not be accepted as payment for meals at the time they are served in a classroom.  Payments should be made in advance of service in the form of a prepayment prior to meal service. WCPSS Board Policy 6221 provides requirements pertaining to Meal Charges, assisting students with insufficient funds, and provisions for alternate meals. 

Students who are remote learning may continue to receive school meals via curbside meal service. This includes students enrolled in Virtual Academy. Families come to a designated school feeding site and receive a full lunch for today and full breakfast for the next day. Curbside Service will be available at select schools, and locations may change. Families may elect to pick up meals at the site most convenient to you by completing this form.

Curbside locations can be found at wcpss.net/food.

Meals will not be available on holidays designated on the student’s calendar. The option of curbside service is contingent upon waivers approved by regulatory agencies, and may not be available in all circumstances.

Our menus will continue to feature student favorites, and provide the protein, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables that are important ingredients in a nutritious meal. All food will be individually packaged for direct service to students.

Menus will continue to be posted at WCPSS School Meals / Menus

Meals must be handed directly to students, and self-service is not allowed. In other words, your child will not be able to serve themselves in the cafeteria serving line as they are accustomed to doing. During any of the service options mentioned above (Cafeteria Service, Hallway Service, Classroom Delivery, or Curbside), the meal will be handed directly to the student.

Should your child have a medical need that requires a special diet request, follow these instructions in order for our Special Diets Department to process your request. Please note that it may take several weeks to process your request and order the food necessary to comply with your child’s needs:

1. Complete medical statement form under Special Diets at School Meals / Menus and have it signed by a licensed medical professional.
2. Turn this completed form into the Manager at your chosen curbside pick-up location. Please note that it may take 10 business days for processing and an additional 10 business days to order food.
3. The Manager at curbside pick-up location will call you to let you know about any updates or when he/she is ready to feed your child.
4. Please note that if you change your curbside pick-up location, you must notify the Manager two weeks in advance so he/she can coordinate to transfer the medical statement and food to a new location.
5. If you change your pick-up days, or want to discontinue your child’s special diets, please contact the site Manager to let him/her know as soon as possible.
6. Menu is subject to change at any time.

If your child has an existing medical statement with Wake County Public Schools:

1. If your child has an existing medical statement, contact our Special Diets processor at ktran@wcpss.net to verify this information. Include the name of the school site that you will be picking up your child’s meal. Sites are posted at wcpss.net/food.
2. The diet processor will send your child’s medical statement to the chosen curbside pick-up location. Please note that it may take 10 business days for processing and an additional 10 business days to order food.
3. The Manager at the curbside pick-up location will call you to let you know about any updates or when he/she is ready to feed your child.
4. Please note that if you change your curbside pick-up location, you must notify the Manager two weeks in advance so he/she can coordinate to transfer the medical statement and food to a new location.
5. If you change your pick-up days, or want to discontinue your child’s special diets, please contact the site Manager to let him/her know as soon as possible.
6. Menu is subject to change at any time.

Meals will be free for all students through June 2021*. Breakfast and lunch will be available at no cost for all students who are learning in-person within the school, as well as students who are remote learning, including students in Virtual Academy. Meals will be served via the service method that is chosen by the principal and cafeteria staff. In addition, meals will continue to be served at curbside feeding sites listed at wcpss.net/food. Meals are limited to one breakfast and one lunch per student per day, and students do not need to enter their student ID to receive meals.

Although an approved application is not required to receive free meals through June 2021, families should consider applying for meal benefits by Feb 26. For every student that turns in the free and reduced lunch application and qualifies, the school receives federal funds that benefit the student and teachers at the school. These funds provide additional teachers and staff for the school which means more services for students, especially students that are struggling in reading or math. These funds also are used for materials and supplies for students and teachers. These are valuable resources that teachers can use to improve student achievement. 

Another important reason to apply is the direct benefit of receiving additional stimulus funds for families in the coming months. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will begin collecting free and reduced lunch data from us to determine the families that will receive Pandemic Electronic Benefits (P-EBT) that will be issued in the coming months. The P-EBT program helps families purchase food for children whose access to free and reduced priced meals at school has been impacted by COVID-19. If you do not apply and qualify for meal benefits, you will miss the opportunity to receive direct P-EBT funds for your family.

Information about applying for Meal Benefits for the 2020-21 school year can be found at School Meals / Free/Reduced Meals. Applications can be completed online at MySchoolApps.com, or a paper application can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.

*Depending on USDA funding

To speed service CNS recommends that parents pre-pay for a la carte items, if available. You may make prepayments one of two ways:

• By credit card at MySchoolBucks.com
  • Signing up for MySchoolBucks is secure, easy and no-cost.
  • View your student's purchases and account balance at any time.
  • Using this feature does not require on-line payments.
  • Set up notifications at no cost to you. You'll receive an email that informs you when additional funds will be required to ensure your student has funds for meal or other item purchase
• By cash or check, in an envelope with the student’s name and ID number written on the front, given to a CNS cashier or manager prior to meal service.
  • We use CHECKredi as our check service provider. Your check should include your full name, street address and phone number. By presenting your check, you authorize service charges and processing fees to be debited from your account. If you have questions about a returned check, contact CHECKredi at (800) 686-9522.

Should a prepayment be made on an account with a negative balance, the prepayment will first be applied to the negative balance.

The School Board has approved an update to the CNS Meal Charges Policy, allowing students to charge the amount of money that they are unable to pay for a meal, so long as this does not create a negative account balance of more than $5.00 (five dollars). Students who are required to pay for meals are asked to do so in a timely manner; however, in the event that a student has forgotten or lost their meal money, this policy change allows a small charge on the student’s account to cover insufficient funds. Parents are responsible for paying all meal charge debt by the last day of the school year. For more information, see Policy Code: 6221 Meal Charges.

If you would like to request a refund of your current meal account balance, complete this refund form. Complete this refund form in Spanish. Please allow up to 6 weeks for your refunds to be processed. If you use the auto-replenishment feature on MySchoolBucks.com, immediately deactivate it to prevent additional withdrawals from your bank account. 

To donate your students account balance to help other students that do not have sufficient funds in their account available for their meal OR to transfer funds between students attending different schools, complete this form. To make a direct donation to support food distribution efforts, complete this form.

In order to adhere to hygiene standards when we reopen schools, students will not key in their student ID  number on a keypad as they have done in the past. Schools will provide a Touchless Point of Sale system, based on the technology available:

• Students may verbalize their student ID number to the cashier, who enters the number in the Point of Sale system.
• Students may be issued barcoded ID card that they will scan in a contactless scanner, rendering the student’s information on the cashier’s touchscreen register or tablet at the Point of Sale.
  • If the technology is available to scan an ID card, students will be issued a card showing the student's first and last name and a barcode, which they will scan in order to render the student ID number on the cashier’s screen.

The school cannot require that the card be worn or attached in such a way that it is visible to others.

Only staff with legitimate pedagogical interests (e.g. CNS staff providing meals or checking accounts) may ask for the card.