Nutrition

FREE Breakfast

SSPPS offers free breakfast to all district students to ensure they have the fuel they need for a full day of learning. School breakfast consists of a choice of fruits/juices and milk daily, along with a variety of menu items.

• Elementary students have access to the standard breakfast meal in the cafeteria or if they arrive close to the first bell, they have the option of a quick Grab N’ Go breakfast before school starts. 
• Secondary students have the option for the traditional breakfast option as well as an additional Grab N’ Go “Second Chance” Breakfast, providing a quick and nutritious meal for students to grab and go between morning classes.  

FREE and Reduced-Price Lunch

For lunch, elementary schools provide students with a choice of a traditional school lunch or an alternate entree. SSP Secondary offers a choice of five different menus daily in addition to a large number of a la carte choices, a variety of milk and a large variety of fruit and vegetables are served to help students meet their nutritional needs. Students qualifying for FRP are provided the entree option.  

Visit https://www.schoolcafe.com/southstpaul to access our interactive menus!

User friendly drop-down boxes allow access to great nutritional and allergen information. To get started follow the drop-down boxes to:

• Choose a School
• Click your Building
• Choose a Menu – Lunch or Breakfast
  • You are now able to roll your mouse over items for dietary information, allergens and pictures. If you click into “Show Special Diet Info” button, read and agree to terms, all allergens will appear when you roll over food with your mouse.
  • The right side of the screen allows you to specifically view all items that may be offered each day. Scroll down the right side of the screen for many options in viewing information.
  • Click into “Show Special Diet Info” button, read and agree to terms, you can place a checkmark in the box of the allergen(s) you want to track, the allergen will be revealed on the entire menu with a “strikethrough.?

You may click on a food item to see nutrient information; description of each item as well as a photo of the item.

Nutrient and allergen information is available for foods in the drop down boxes on the right hand side of your screen; including vegetables, fruits, condiments and beverage items that may be offered that day.

Scroll down on the right side to find a free app for your smartphone, enter into your SchoolView account and request a monthly menu be sent directly to you.

All students and staff in our District will use Universal PIN numbers for school meals. The Universal PIN numbers for Secondary students will be printed on their fall class schedule they receive during the registration days. Elementary students will receive their Universal PIN numbers either at the Open House held before school starts or in their classrooms on the first day of school. Staff members will receive their Universal PIN number from the Cashier or call (651) 457-9429.

The Universal PIN number will belong to a student for as long as he/she is enrolled in our District. This number will not change if a student switches between elementary buildings or when they move to the Secondary Building. Secondary students who are at an Elementary Building during their lunch period will be able to purchase a lunch by accessing their account, using their Universal PIN.

Staff members will keep the same Universal PIN number while employed by the District. Their PIN may be used to purchase meals or a la carte items at any of the buildings.

New Universal PIN numbers will only be issued to incoming Kindergarten students, and students or staff members who are new to the District.

SchoolCafé is the new online school meal payments and application for educational benefits. SchoolCafé provides a number of key features you will find beneficial including:

• View your student's school meal account balance
• Review daily spending and purchases
• Access from any computer 24/7
• Low balance email reminders
• Automatic payments

Create an account

Parents will need to create a new account with SchoolCafé. Visit schoolcafe.com and follow the instructions below to create an account:

REGISTRATION

1. Select Create an Account.
2. Select I'm a Parent and click Next.
3. Enter your name and contact information and then select Next.
4. Create a username and password.
5. Set up a security question and answer.
6. Read and accept the Terms & Conditions, and select Create My Account.

ADD STUDENT(S)

1. At the top of the dashboard, select Add a Student.
2. Enter your student's information as requested.
3. Select Search & Verify Student.
4. Verify the student found is accurate and select Add this Student.

 MAKE A PAYMENT

1. At the top of the dashboard, select Make a Payment.
2. Enter payment dollar amounts for each student as desired and select Checkout.
3. On the checkout screen, confirm the total and select a payment method.
4. Select Submit to complete the payment. Funds are typically available at the student's school within 20 minutes.

HOW TO SET UP AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS

1. From your Dashboard, locate an individual student on your account and select the blue text next to ‘Automatic Payment’ (the text will say either ‘Not Set’ or ‘Set for …’).
2. In the first field, enter a balance threshold. This tells SchoolCafé how low the student’s balance must be before a low balance alert is sent to you. 
3. In the next field, enter how often you would like to receive a reminder that the student’s balance is below the threshold. This is helpful in case you miss an email or alert.
4. Select a payment source or select to add a new card. 
5. In the last field, confirm the date that the Automatic Payment will expire. (NOTE: this date should be before your payment source expires, if possible)
6. Select Save.

HOW TO SET UP LOW BALANCE ALERTS

1. From your Dashboard, locate an individual student and select the blue text next to ‘Low Balance Alert’ (the text will say either ‘Not Set’ or ‘Set for …’).
2. In the first field, enter a balance threshold. This tells SchoolCafé how low the student’s balance must be before a low balance alert is sent to you.
3. In the next field, enter how often you would like to receive a reminder that the student’s balance is below the threshold. This is helpful in case you miss an email or alert.
4. Select Save.

PURPOSE

The purpose is to establish consistent negative meal account procedures for South Saint Paul Public Schools.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF PROCEDURE

1. South Saint Paul Schools recognize the parent/guardian’s responsibility to provide breakfast and lunch for their children. Proper nutritional intake is essential for academic success.
2. So. St. Paul Schools offer breakfast and lunch to all grade levels. The Food Service Department strives to produce high-quality meals at a reasonable cost.
3. Students or district employees may purchase meals when funds have been deposited into their meal account through online, cash, or check payments.
4. Households may apply for free/reduced meals anytime during the school year. Applications are mailed to all households along with the school calendar, prior to the start of the school year. Applications are included in new enrollment packets and also are available in the school office, kitchen office and Food Service office in both the English and Spanish language. Applications are available online at www.sspps.org under Nutrition Services and Free and Reduced Meal Application.

PROCEDURES FOR NOTIFYING FAMILY OF ACCOUNT STATUS

1. Families will be notified via phone, email and text once a student’s meal account balance falls to a negative amount. Parent/guardian’s may not opt out of receiving notifications from the school district. Parent/guardian’s are expected to have a current address, working phone number and/or email in the parent portal, such as Parent Vue.
2. Families will be notified via mail once a student’s meal account balance has reached negative $20.00. A letter will be mailed to the household address stating the current negative meal account balance and include a Free and Reduced Meal Application. The letter will state how to make a payment on the meal account and contact information to arrange a payment plan.
3. Families will again be notified via mail once a student’s meal account balance has reached negative $30.00. A letter will be mailed to the household address stating the current negative meal account balance and include an Application for Educational Benefits. A phone call is made to notify the parent of the negative balance.
4. No student in the serving line will be denied a meal. If a student’s account does not have enough money to pay for a breakfast and/or lunch meal, the student will still be allowed to purchase a meal, which will cause the account balance to become negative. All students will be provided a meal regardless of their account balance. While the district is under no legal obligation to do so, we believe this is in the best interest for the student.
5. All notifications and communication efforts will be facilitated and documented by district employees.
6. If a student’s meal account falls below negative $50 (fifty dollars) or more, or a household of 2 or more students falls below negative $100 (one hundred dollars), a United States Postal Service certified letter will be mailed to the address on record. If there is no response from the parent or guardian within 14 days after receipt of the certified letter, further efforts to collect the negative balance will be pursued.

More details about the handling of unpaid student meal charges are available by contacting the District Food Service Office at 651-457-9429.

Lunch Account Refund

If your student is graduating or leaving the district and has a balance left in the meal account, please complete the Lunch Account Refund or Transfer Form indicating how you would like to close the account. If you have a School Cafe account you can request a refund from there, without completing the Refund or Transfer Form.

Please send the completed form by mail, fax or email to South St. Paul Public Schools Nutrition Services. If you do not know the amount in your child’s meal account, call (651) 457-9429.  

Donate to the Student Support Fund

School meals help students sustain the energy they need to be successful in the classroom. Though nothing should stand in the way of a child’s access to a nutritious meal, many families who are experiencing financial difficulties cannot afford to keep money in their student’s school lunch account. That is why South St. Paul Public Schools has a Student Support Fund.

Families and community members are invited to donate to the Student Support Fund to help a student in need pay for a school meal. Complete lunches are sold for as little as $1.90 up to $2.10, so a donation of only $10 could feed a student for a week.

Donate by Check:

1. Designate a check for the Student Support Fund
2. Select a school: Kaposia, Lincoln Center, or South St. Paul Secondary
3. Make it payable to ISD #6 Food Service.

Donate by transferring funds from student's account:

Complete the Lunch Account Refund or Transfer Form

Please send your check or completed form to:

ATTN: Food Service
South St. Paul Public Schools
104 5th Avenue South
South St. Paul, MN 55075

SSPPS Nutrition Services recognizes the importance of special diets and allergy concerns. Parents/guardians may make a request for a dietary accommodation.

Please complete the Special Diet Statement to Request Dietary Accommodations Form or Lactose Intolerance Form and submit all required information. This form may need a family physician signature. Please return completed form to Dorie Pavel with Nutrition Services.

PLEASE NOTE: This form will be placed in your student's health record and this information will be shared with the Nutrition Services staff and Health Office. Parents must submit a new request each school year.

schoolcafe.com

Is SchoolCafé.com safe and secure?

SchoolCafé uses 128-bit encryption to secure data transfer between your browser and our server. From the time you login until the time you logout, all data is encrypted. They use the same security encryption as many major e-commerce web sites.

Where can parents find the menus?

Menus will be available on SchoolCafe when school starts.

How do I request a refund or balance transfer?

All refund or balance transfer requests may be directed to the Nutrition Services office at (651) 457-9429 or email Erica at epawletzki@sspps.org.

What happens to an account balance at the end of the school year?

Balances remaining in a student’s account at the end of the school year will carry over to the following school year. If the student moves to a new building, the balance will transfer along with that student.

What if a student is graduating or leaving the District?

Parents/guardians may request a refund or balance transfer using the Lunch Account Refund/Transfer form or via their School Cafe account. Parents also have the option to donate the remaining student balance to the Student Support Fund. Requests may directed to the Nutrition Services office at (651) 457-9429 or email Erica at epawletzki@sspps.org.

What if the account has a negative balance at the end of the school year?

Payments for negative meal accounts can be made online at schoolcafe.com. We strongly encourage parents to check balances before school starts to ensure that there is enough money in their student's account.