Even during the closure of schools at the end of the previous school year, the Henry County Schools Nutrition Department was still hard at work providing meals to students in need. The food service will still be available to start the school year, but there will be a few differences that families need to know about.
Henry County Schools was able to expand the number of sites for distribution for the upcoming school year to one school in each of its 10 school clusters. Henry County Schools previously used six sites for distribution but now will use either a middle or high school in each cluster to serve as the meal pick-up site for all elementary and secondary students.
The following schools will serve as the cluster school for picking up meals:
Cluster Curbside Meal Pick-up Location
- Dutchtown Dutchtown High School
- Eagle’s Landing Eagle’s Landing Middle School
- Hampton Hampton Middle School
- Locust Grove Locust Grove High School
- Luella Luella High School
- McDonough McDonough Middle School
- Ola Ola High School
- Stockbridge Stockbridge Middle School
- Union Grove Union Grove Middle School
- Woodland Woodland High School
Another change for the upcoming school year is that there could be a cost for the meals based on a student’s eligibility. The US Department of Agriculture provided a waiver at the end of last school year that allowed schools to provide meals to any student at no cost to the family. That waiver was not extended to this school year, so all meals will have to be paid for at the time of distribution. MySchoolBucks is an online payment system that all HCS schools use and will continue to use through this meal pick-up model.
The meal service process will include picking up one of two meal options: five lunches and five breakfasts or five lunches only. Curbside meal pick-up will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays each week. In order to plan for how many meals need to be prepared for distribution, there will be an online pre-ordering system through MySchoolBucks that must be completed each week by families wishing to utilize the school lunch and breakfast options. The reservation window will be available Thursday through Monday each week.
School officials are looking forward to greeting families once again and providing them with the proper nourishment to promote health and growth.
“We look forward to providing the same nutritious meals to our students each week as we serve during this unique time,” said School Nutrition Executive Director Kantrell Brown. “We will utilize the same drive-thru model for pick-ups, but we will continue working with community partners and looking at other options to expand our service to the school communities.”
The cost for a breakfast for all grades in the district is $1.15. The cost for lunch for elementary students is $2.40 while the cost for secondary students is $2.50. For eligible students, a reduced breakfast cost is $0.30 and a reduced lunch cost is $0.40.
Free and Reduced meal applications are available for families to complete to see if they qualify for that option. These applications must be completed annually. This can be located in the parent portal of Infinite Campus under the “More” tab. From there, a family should select meal benefits to locate and complete the form. Of note for families who have not filled out a new application yet, meal applications from the previous year are currently valid until a new application is processed up until a deadline of August 31.
For families unable to pick up meals at the designated day and time, the school district is partnering with Operation Lunchbox to help with delivery. Families in need of delivery service should contact their school counselor or social worker for further assistance with this request.
To make sure you have a MySchoolBucks account or your account is up-to-date, log on to www.myschoolbucks.com.
For more information on Henry County Schools, visit www.henry.k12.ga.us.
