YISD schools to receive free lunch meals in 2016-17
The Ysleta Independent School District will offer free lunch meals this year to all students at 33 schools in the Bel Air, Del Valle, Parkland, Riverside, and Ysleta learning communities, thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which manages the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs,
For campuses that did not qualify for the CEP program, YISD is announcing its regular policy for providing free and reduced-price lunch meals for children whose families fall under federal income eligibility guidelines. All students at YISD receive free breakfast meals.
The CEP schools where YISD students will automatically receive free breakfast and lunch meals – and where parents are not required to fill out lunch applications – are as follows:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:
• Ascarate
• Capistrano
• Cedar Grove
• Constance Hulbert
• Del Norte
• Del Valle
• Hacienda Heights
• Lancaster
• LeBarron Park
• Loma Terrace
• Marian Manor
• Mesa Vista
• Mission Valley
• North Loop
• Parkland
• Pasodale
• Presa
• Ramona
• Sageland
• South Loop
• Thomas Manor
• Ysleta
MIDDLE SCHOOLS:
• Camino Real
• Bel Air
• Rio Bravo
• Riverside
• Ysleta
HIGH SCHOOLS:
• Riverside
• Ysleta
PRE-K CENTERS:
• Parkland Pre-K
• Ysleta Pre-K
ALTERNATIVE CAMPUSES:
• Cesar Chavez Academy
• Tejas School of Choice
CEP is a provision that allows districts, schools, or groups of schools in high poverty areas to automatically offer free breakfast and lunch meals due to the high percentage of students who qualified for free school meals in the previous year.
At non-CEP schools, YISD parents must fill out a lunch application to verify whether their children qualify for free or reduced-price lunch meals through one of the following three criteria:
• Household income guidelines;
• Households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR); or
• Child status (foster child, homeless, runaway, migrant, or displaced by declared disaster) or enrollment in Head Start or Even Start.
To qualify by household income, for example, a family of four must earn less than $44,955 annually to qualify children for reduced-price school meals – or less than $31,590 to qualify for free school meals.
In the 2016-17 school year, breakfast is free for all YISD students. Reduced-price lunch meals are 40 cents at all elementary, middle, and high schools, while full-price lunch meals are $2.10 at elementary schools, and $2.35 at middle and high schools.
For parents’ convenience, the YISD school meal application is available online at https://mealapps.yisd.net/lfserver/EFORM. Applications are also available at each campus; parents may fill out applications and return them to their neighborhood school. Applications will be reviewed and eligibility determined by the Child Nutrition Services Office at YISD Central Office, 9600 Sims Drive. Parents will be notified of their child’s eligibility for the lunch program within 10 operating days of submitting an application.
It is the parents’ responsibility to pay for or provide school meals for their children during this 10-day waiting period. To make a formal appeal on a ruling of eligibility, parents are asked to make a request either in person or in writing to Child Nutrition Services Director Michael Vasquez.
For more information, please contact Glenda Salazar at YISD Child Nutrition Services at 915-434-0130 or Director Michael Vasquez at 915-434-0125.
In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington DC 20250-9410 or call toll-free 866-632-9922; 800-877-8339; or for Spanish-speaking assistance, call 800-845-6136. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.