School Nutrition

SCHOOL NUTRITION AT OUR SCHOOL

Schools across the county are finding that more children start the day with school breakfast when they move it out of the cafeteria and after the first bell, making it an integral part of the school day. These new services models make breakfast participation convenient by serving it in places where children can easily access the meal – in classrooms, hallways, or even later in the morning.

At PUC Schools we believe in supporting the nutritional health and wellness of our students and have implemented a Breakfast in the Classroom and Second Chance Breakfast Model at all PUC Schools. We participate in the USDA National Lunch Program, providing students with Breakfast, Lunch, and Snacks daily. In addition, PUC Schools offer “Universal Meals”, which provides FREE Breakfast and Lunch Meals to all students, regardless of eligibility.

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSAL MEALS

Beginning in School Year (SY) 2022–23, California will become the first state to implement a statewide Universal Meals Program for school children. California’s Universal Meals Program (Universal Meals) is designed to build on the foundations of the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). There are three key pillars that have been established to ensure that the program is a success:

Pillar One: California’s State Meal Mandate is expanded to include both a nutritiously adequate breakfast and lunch for, not just needy children, but all children each school day.
Pillar Two: High poverty schools will be required to participate in a federal provision.
Pillar Three: The California State Legislature allocates funds to provide additional state meal reimbursement to cover the cost of the Universal Meals Program.

For more information on Universal Meals, please visit: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/cauniversalmeals.asp

COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PROVISION (CEP)

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

All PUC schools are participating in CEP.

For more information on CEP, please visit https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/cep.asp.

USDA NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

1. mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
2. fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. email: [email protected]

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Programs

ABOUT OUR FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY- Serving Breakfast and Lunch

Unity Meals (https://unity-meals.com/)

Servicing PUC Valley Schools:

(PUC Triumph Charter Academy, PUC Triumph Charter High School, PUC Lakeview Charter High School, PUC Community Charter Elementary School, PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy, PUC Inspire Charter Academy)

BREAKFAST

UNIVERSAL AND SECOND CHANCE BREAKFAST

What is Universal Breakfast?

Universal Breakfast (offering meals free to all children) optimizes the impact of switching to an alternative breakfast model. The traditional means-tested school breakfast (in which the meal is free or the child pays, depending on family income) creates a sense among children that the program is just “for poor kids.” This deters participation by children from all income groups, including low-income children who most need the school meal. This is especially problematic in middle and high school as awareness of the social context grows. By offering breakfast at no charge to all children – and children, of course, are free not to participate – free breakfast for all ends the stigma, boosts participation among hungry children, and eliminates the burden of collecting fees.

If you want to learn more about Universal Breakfast, here is a useful link:
http://frac.org/pdf/frac-facts-offering-free-breakfast-to-all-students.pdf

What is Second Chance Breakfast?

With the Second Chance Breakfast (2CB) model, school breakfast is offered in the morning before school starts and during morning recess or snack/brunch break. 2CB is effective for serving students who, due to family schedules or transportation issues, are not able to eat in the morning before school begins. 2CB is also effective for students who are not hungry first thing in the morning, but do get hungry before lunch. 2CB is one strategy that helps bring the benefits of breakfast to all students.

By serving children when and where they are ready to eat, Second Chance Breakfast benefits students and schools.

LUNCH

NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM

What is the National School Lunch Program?

The National School Lunch Program is a federally funded program that assists schools and other agencies in providing nutritious lunches to children. In addition to financial assistance, the program provides donated commodity foods to help reduce lunch program costs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for overseeing the program nationally. In California, the program is administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division.

What are the benefits of participating in the program?

For children, the National School Lunch Program provides a nutritious meal that contains one-third of the recommended dietary allowance of necessary nutrients. For parents, the program offers a convenient method of providing a nutritionally balanced lunch to all students. For schools, the program enhances children’s learning abilities by contributing to their physical and mental well being. Studies have shown that children whose nutritional needs are met have fewer attendance and discipline problems and are more attentive in class.

For more information about the NSLP program, please click on the link below:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/nslp.asp

SNACK & SUPPER

PUC Schools offers an Afterschool Program at many of our sites which includes a FREE Supper meal to ALL children under the age of 18, which is provided by our partner, Our Little Helpers Inc., and is funded through the CACFP Program.

Who is Our Little Helpers Inc.? Our Little Helpers, Inc. is a School Food Authority that manages feeding programs for schools and day-care centers funded by CACFP. They provide daily Supper meals at NO COST to all children participating in the Afterschool Programs at PUC Schools.

For more information on Our Little Helpers, Inc. please visit their website:
http://www.ourlittlehelpers.org/

What is CACFP? The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a state and federally funded program that gives financial aid to licensed child care centers and day care homes. The objectives of the program are to improve the diets of children under 13 years of age by providing the children with nutritious, well-balanced meals. This will help to develop good eating habits in children that will last through later years.

For more information about CACFP, Please click on the link below:
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/cc/

Universal Benefits Application (UBA)

UBA and Letter to families SY24-25

WELLNESS POLICY

To download a full copy of the PUC Schools Wellness Policy, please click below.

Local Wellness Policy - Nutritional Newsletter

Due to children’s need to access healthy foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn, and thrive; PUC Schools and its SCHOOLS members is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity. Therefore, it is the policy of PUC SCHOOLS that:

The schools will engage students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health professionals, and other interested community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing PUC Schools-wide nutrition and physical activity policies.

All students in grades K-12 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.

Foods and beverages sold or served at school will meet the nutrition recommendations of the S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Qualified child nutrition professionals will provide students with access to a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students; will accommodate the religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the student body in meal planning; and will provide clean, safe, and pleasant settings and adequate time for students to eat.

To the maximum extent practicable, all schools in PUC Schools will participate in available federal school meal programs (including the School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program [including after-school snacks].

Schools will provide nutrition education and physical education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity, and will establish linkages between health education and school meal programs, and with related community services.

A comprehensive committee, consisting of all PUC stakeholders, will participate in development, monitoring and revision of PUC Schools Wellness Policy.
A comprehensive committee, consisting of all PUC stakeholders will assist in menu planning and reporting survey results and data to FSMC or Food Vendor, three times a year.

Earned Income Tax Credit Information Act Communication

Based on your annual earnings, you may be eligible to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit from the Federal Government (Federal EITC). The Federal EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. The Federal EITC has no effect on certain welfare benefits. In most cases, Federal EITC payments will not be used to determine eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, low-income housing, or most Temporary Assistance For Needy Families payments. Even if you do not owe federal taxes, you must file a federal tax return to receive the Federal EITC. Be sure to fill out the Federal EITC form in the Federal Income Tax Return Booklet. For information regarding your eligibility to receive the Federal EITC, including information on how to obtain the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Notice 797 or any other necessary forms and instructions, contact the IRS by calling 1-800-829-3676 or through its website at www.irs.gov.

You may also be eligible to receive the California Earned Income Tax Credit (California EITC) starting with the calendar year 2015 tax year. The California EITC is a refundable state income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. The California EITC is treated in the same manner as the Federal EITC and generally will not be used to determine eligibility for welfare benefits under California law. To claim the California EITC, even if you do not owe California taxes, you must file a California income tax return and complete and attach the California EITC Form (FTB 3514). For information on the availability of the credit eligibility requirements and how to obtain the necessary California forms and get help filing, contact the Franchise Tax Board at 1-800-852-5711 or through its website at www.ftb.ca.gov.

There are many options for notifying households about the EITC which may include in¬–person, electronic, mail, flyers, or by phone.

For additional information, refer to the IRS EITC web page at https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit or the California EITC web page at https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/california-earned-income-tax-credit.html.

Contact Information

If you have questions regarding this subject, please contact the IRS by phone at 800-829-3676 or through its website at www.irs.gov. You can also contact the Franchise Tax Board by phone at 800-852-5711 or through its website at www.ftb.ca.gov.

School Nutrition