School Nutrition Information
The School Nutrition program offers nutritious, delicious school meals that meet the needs of the various age groups in our student community. Breakfast and lunch are served daily at all Roanoke County schools except Burton Center for Arts and Technology.
The School Nutrition Program operates under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and is therefore subject to all rules and regulations that apply to those programs.
Families may apply to participate in the free and reduced-priced meal program. Household applications are evaluated according to USDA Income Eligibility Guidelines. To apply, complete ONE application for ALL children in the household who are enrolled in Roanoke County Public Schools. A new application must be filled out each year in order to be eligible. Once completed and submitted, the application comes directly to Nutrition Services and is processed accordingly.
To apply, please choose ONE of the following options:
• A confidential and secure online application may be completed through School Café. The SY26-27 application will open in late July 2026. Families at all non-CEP schools will receive an email from School Café notifying them the application is available.
• A paper application may be obtained and turned in at any school site. Spanish language applications are also available, with additional languages available upon request. Paper applications will be available as of the first day of school.
All students enrolled at Burlington Elementary, Glen Cove Elementary, Herman L. Horn Elementary, Mount Pleasant Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, Northside High, Northside Middle, W.E. Cundiff Elementary, and William Byrd Middle will eat for free as part of the Community Eligibility Provision as implemented under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Households with students attending these schools will not be required to submit a meal application form for these students to receive meals at no charge.
Payment for school meals and a la carte items may be made in the cafeteria of each school by cash or check. This is a free option for adding funds to meal accounts. Payments may also be made through School Café, a secure online provider, using a major credit card. There is a third-party service fee for using the online payment service. Parents may monitor their child’s cafeteria purchases on School Café at no cost.
Meal prices:
Lunch: $3.35 student, $5.05 adult
Breakfast: $1.85 student, $2.95 adult
Milk: $0.50
UNPAID MEAL CHARGES
Students who do not have money on account or in hand to cover the cost of a meal at the time of service may be permitted to charge the meal. Reasonable efforts are used to avoid calling attention to a student's inability to pay.
Notice of negative balances in a student's meal account are sent to parents and the school principal. Parents are expected to pay all meal charges in full by the last day of the school year.
If a parent regularly fails to provide meal money or send food to school with the student and the student does not qualify for free or reduced benefits, the nutrition supervisor will inform the principal, who will determine the next course of action, which may include notifying the department of social services of suspected child neglect.
The superintendent or superintendent's designee ensures that federal child nutrition funds are not used to offset the cost of unpaid meals, and that the child nutrition program is reimbursed for bad debt. In order to accomplish those goals, the following procedures are followed:
• Communications via email, and U.S. mail are sent to parent or guardian with unpaid student meal charges. Payment is requested and arrangements for a payment plan are offered, if necessary.
• If the debt is not paid and the student has left the school district, it is considered bad debt for the purpose of federal law concerning unpaid meal charge. This is reviewed and the nutrition program is reimbursed by the School Board general operating funds.
FOOD ALLERGY NOTIFICATION
If you noted a food allergy on your student’s health information, the allergen will not be served to your student in any form. For example, a student with a milk allergy will not be served fluid milk, cheese, yogurt, or baked items that may include milk.
This procedure is in place to ensure your student is not exposed to a life-threatening allergic reaction.
To update or remove allergies that may already be on file, please contact the nurse at your student’s school. For any special meal accommodations, such as those requiring substitutions, a food allergy action plan signed by a medical professional is required. Please obtain this from your medical provider and submit it to your school nurse so a school allergy plan can be developed.
If you have any questions, please contact Nutrition Services at (540) 562-3788.