Students	Breakfast	Lunch	Reduced-Price Lunch*	Milk (1/2 pint)
Pre-K	No charge	$2.50	$ 0.40	$ 0.60
Elementary & Middle School	No charge	$2.75	$ 0.40	$ 0.60
High School	No charge	$3.00	$ 0.40	$ 0.60
Adults	A la carte	A la carte	A la carte	$ 0.60

*New for 2022-23: The NC budget adopted by state lawmakers will cover the 40 cents per lunch charged to students who qualify for a reduced price lunch; therefore, reduced price students will receive lunch at no cost. Students attending eligible CEP schools receive breakfast and lunch at no charge.

Students without meal money:                                                                                                                                                

All students must have an approved meal application, cash or money on account to make lunch purchases. Procedures are in place for Pre-k, elementary and middle school students who do not have money to receive a complete lunch. The price of the lunch will be charged to the student’s account. The student will be asked to return any extra items on his/her tray to the cashier. Parents will be notified of balances due and are responsible for payment. If payment is not received within 10 days of the date of the notice, the matter will be referred to the school principal for further action. High school students are not allowed to go into the negative to purchase any food items. There is a “no charge” policy in high schools.

At the beginning of the school year or during the school year, if a student moves from a CEP school to a school that is not CEP the parent must complete a meal application within 30 days to be considered for meal benefits. Students will need to have money for meals if an approved meal application is not on file.

 

Menus

Parents are encouraged to place money in their student's accounts in advance. Advance payment allows the cafeteria to provide the most efficient service to all customers.

Money may be placed in your student's account for the convenience of purchasing extra items for students.

You may send cash, personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, or online payments.

Include the following information with your payment:

• Student's full name
• Personal identification number (PIN)
• Teacher's name

If paying for more than one student, please list all student names, PINs and teacher names.

PAMS (Parent Account Management System) online payment service

There is no cost to pay online, check account balances, or view purchase history.

Signing up for PAYPAMS

Step 1: Register with PAMS: Click on the PayPams image above or paypams.com. You can also call 1-877-726-7586.

Step 2: Choose your Payment Options: Make manual payments at your convenience or set up automatic payments.

Step 3: Make a Payment: Pay by credit or VISA logo debit card. You will receive an immediate confirmation that your payment has been received. (Payments take 24 to 48 hours to post to your student's account at their school cafeteria.)

Refunds on Closed Accounts

Parents of students leaving CMS have up to 90 days to request a refund of money on account or have it transferred to another CMS student. Amounts less than $5 will be transferred, upon request, to another CMS student account but not refunded. Contact the School Nutrition Services office at (980) 343-6041 to request a refund or transfer of money.

Purchase Adjustments / 30 Day Limit

School Nutrition Services (SNS) offers an online service to give parents access to the activity on their child's lunch account. The online service can be accessed daily to check balances and purchases made by students. Parents can make payments through this service, but this is an option and is not required to view activity on the account. The parent/guardian has 30 days from the date a purchase is posted to dispute questionable charges to the account.

Lunch activity may be obtained by creating an online account at www.paypams.com.

All requests for special nutritional needs must be submitted to School Nutrition Services on a CMS Diet Order Form with a signature from a licensed medical doctor (MD) or a recognized medical authority.

Forms must be submitted each time a student's diagnosis or change of treatment is indicated during the school year. A current CMS Diet Order form is now available by clicking the link below. You can also obtain a copy from your cafeteria manager. Incomplete forms cannot be processed and will be returned to the parent/guardian for completion.

School Nutrition will modify menus and instruct cafeteria managers about each special diet upon receiving each completed form. A registered dietitian on staff supervises the management of all special nutritional needs. Parents are encouraged to review appropriate food choices from the menu with their children.

CMS Diet Order Form

Allergens

Without submitting a diet order form, families desiring to manage diabetes, food allergies, etc.,may view information regarding nutrition, carbohydrate content, and major food allergies by visiting the Menus, Carbohydrates and Allergens below.

CMS School Nutrition does not purchase or serve peanuts or peanut-containing products; therefore, a diet order form specifying a peanut allergy is unnecessary. However, if you have questions or concerns about our program, please call the School Nutrition Services on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at (980) 344-0242 or (980)344-0210.

View the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools:Triennial Assessment Report 6/21/2021

We are pleased to inform you that 68 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) will continue to participate in the Community Eligibility Provisions (CEP) for School Year 2022-2023. Schools participating in the CEP can provide healthy breakfasts and lunches each day at no charge for ALL students enrolled in the school. If your children attend one of the following schools, they will be included in this program.

2022-2023 Community Eligible Provision (CEP) Schools

Fee Waivers & Discounts for students attending CEP Schools:

Parents do not need to complete a meal application if all children in the household attend a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) School.

To be considered for fee waivers or discounts, students attending CEP schools will need to provide a letter confirming they are directly certified to receive meal benefits or request and submit an "Application for Need-Based Assistance" from the party requesting a fee waiver or discount.

School Nutrition Services is responsible for operating school food services in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. We are employed by the Board of Education. This department's primary goal is to improve the future eating attitudes of this community by altering the eating habits of its students and adults.

School Nutrition Services is self-supporting. Money received from the federal government as part of the School Nutrition program helps keep prices down for the paying student. In addition, any profit is put back into our program to provide higher quality food to our customers. We operate a $70 million operation.

School Nutrition provides healthy meals to more than 147,000 students and staff members in 170 schools each day. Each day 40,000 breakfasts and 94,000 lunches are served to children. This totals more than 24 million meals in a year. In addition, snacks are prepared for all After School Enrichment Programs. Catering for school-related functions and special events is also provided.

In essence, the School Nutrition program is a chain of over 180 restaurants operating within Mecklenburg County.

The School Nutrition Department provides approved menus designed by a menu committee, similar to the way the home office of a restaurant chain determines what its restaurants may serve. Menus are computer analyzed to assure they meet nutrition guidelines required to receive federal reimbursement for meals. In addition, attention is given to providing food that appeals to students. Students with special diet needs are also accommodated with a licensed physician's diet order at the breakfast and lunch meals.

While similarities exist between School Nutrition and restaurants, there are also important differences, such as profit and sales.

Restaurants exist by generating profit through sales, with customer service as a variable concern. School Nutrition is non-profit. It is through excellent service that operating costs are recovered.

The School Nutrition Department has 1,400 employees. Each committed to the single task of feeding children. The department consists of an executive director, assistant director, area supervisors, registered dietitians, administrative support staff, cafeteria managers and workers.

This unit collectively manages the operation of the following:

• The USDA Federal Program includes the Free and Reduced Meal Program and the USDA commodity-food program
• Universal Free Breakfast program
• The Nutrition Education program
• The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
• The Procurement program for Food and Equipment
• Our Point-of-Sale Technology program
• Online Payment
• The Staff Development Programs enhance the professional skills of all Child Nutrition employees.
• The Summer Food Service Program
• School Nutrition Social Marketing & Wellness Program

The Administrative Support Team is responsible for interdepartmental communication. This staff processes meal applications and performs verification of meal applications. They also prepare food bids, place orders, and arrange food deliveries to cafeteria managers. This staff provides information needed for the many state and federal reports.

Area Supervisors are responsible for overseeing school cafeterias and their day-to-day operations. See area and schools assigned to supervisors.