Nutrition Services

Application for Educational Benefits

• Every household is asked to complete the application each year. This annual process is required to receive educational benefits based on income.
• In Minnesota, breakfast and lunch are free for all students each day in Richfield Public Schools. 
• While a full meal is available to students, second entrees, à la carte items or individual milks without a meal purchase require payments and a positive balance in a student’s account.
• Families can reapply at any point during the school year. If you did not qualify earlier, but your household situation has changed since the beginning of the year, please consider reapplying.

To apply: Applications open now!

• Apply online or print out the application and return it to your child's school office.
  • Printed application: Spanish | Somali | Hmong

Complete the Application for Educational Benefits

Frequently Asked Questions about the Application for Educational Benefits

Who should complete this application?
Children in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), and foster, homeless, migrant and runaway children can get free school meals and other benefits without reporting household income. Children can also receive the benefits if their household income is within the maximum income shown for their household size on the instructions.

I get WIC or Medical Assistance. Can my children qualify?
Children in households participating in WIC or Medical Assistance do not automatically qualify. Children may be eligible depending on other household financial information. Please fill out an application.

Who should I include as household members?
Include yourself and all other people living in the household, related or not (such as grandparents, other relatives, or friends).

May I apply if someone in my household is not a U.S. citizen?
Yes. You or your children do not have to be U.S. citizens for your children to complete an application.

What if my income is not always the same? List the amount that you normally get. If you normally get overtime, include it, but not if you get overtime only sometimes. For seasonal work, write in the total annual income.

Will the income information or case number I give be checked? It may be. We may also ask you to send written proof.

How will the information be kept? Information you provide on the form, and your child’s approval for meal benefits, will be protected as private data. For more information see the back page of the Application for Educational Benefits.

If I don’t qualify now, may I apply later? Yes. Please complete an application at any time if your income goes down, your household size goes up, or you start getting SNAP, MFIP or FDPIR benefits.

Other things to note about the application:

• The form asks for the last four digits of the Social Security Number of the person who is signing the application, but it is not required. If the signer does not have a Social Security Number, simply check the box on the form that says they do not have one.
• Forms must be for the current school year and for the school district in which the child is enrolled. Old forms and forms from other districts will not be accepted.

Discounts on Memberships and More!
The following discounts may be available to you:

• Amazon Prime Discount: 50% off Prime membership
• Children's Museum Discount: $3 admissions tickets (regular $16)
• Science Museum Admissions: $3 museum admissions, $3 Omni Theater admissions
• The Works Museum: $25 family membership (regular $90)
• Guthrie Theater Tickets: $5

• Student breakfast: free
• Student lunch: free
• Additional milk: .60 cents
• Extra entree (grades 6-12): $2.25
• Second breakfast (grades 6-12): $2.65
• Second lunch (grades 6-12): $5
• À la carte (grades 6-12): Prices vary
• Adult lunch: $5
• Adult breakfast: $2.65

MealViewer

• Check out what’s being served for breakfast and lunch.
• View nutrition and allergy information.
• Visit the MealViewer website or download the app (Apple | Google Play).

Does your child have food allergies?

If you set up a MealViewer profile for your child, you can save food allergens to their profile and receive an alert when an allergen is present on the menu. This helps alert you to a potentially dangerous situation for your child.

SchoolPay

• View your child’s meal balance and purchase history.
• Set automatic reminders when the account gets low.
• Make one-time payments or create automatic payments to your child’s account.
• Access payments through your ParentVUE account or through the SchoolPay website.
  • If you have a ParentVUE account, simply log in and click on the fees tab and you will be automatically logged in to SchoolPay. From there you can see fees and set up meal payments.
  • If you don’t have a ParentVUE account, please email parentvue@richfieldpublicschools.samanage.com and you will be contacted with an activation key that you can use to set up a ParentVUE account. ParentVUE is your one-stop-shop for attendance, grades and fee information. 
  • If students, grandparents or others want to make payments, then they should create a SchoolPay account directly and connect to the student. 

ParentVUE

• To set up reminders about your child's lunch balance or automatic payments, follow these steps:
  • Log into your ParentVUE account.
  • Select "Fee" and then "Pay Fees" to be directed to the SchoolPay portal. You can also access this directly by logging into SchoolPay directly.
  • Select the "Food Service" tab.
  • Under "Manage Funds" you can set up reminders or automatic payments.

Notifications

• When a student's account balance drops below -$0.05, we send an alert to parents via email, robocall and text. Please ensure your contact information is up-to-date in ParentVUE. These messages are automatically generated and are sent on Mondays and Thursdays during the school year. 
• When a student's account balance drops below -$0.05, we send a letter in your child’s backpack every week (if your child is in elementary school) or a mailed letter every two weeks (if your child is in grades 6-12).
• If you are having difficulty making payments, please notify our staff. We may be able to assist you with funds from the Sunshine Account, as well as other resources.

Meal Charging Policy

USDA guidelines state that all districts must administer a Meal Charge Policy to aid in maintaining the financial integrity of the nonprofit school food service account. All families of students will be notified prior to the meal account becoming negative in an effort to reduce or eliminate meal charging. Best efforts will be given to identify families who need financial assistance. Families with students who have negative meal account balances will be strongly encouraged to apply for free or reduced-price meals. When families keep their child's meal account positive, there are more funds available to provide higher quality food for all. 

Lactose intolerance: If your child is lactose intolerant, please contact the Director of Food & Nutrition or send a note to the Nutrition Manager at your child's school requesting an alternative to cow's milk. Our electronic system will alert the nutrition services staff of this request and alternatives will be provided until we are informed otherwise.

Special dietary requests: If your child has special dietary requests, please have their medical doctor complete the Special Diet Request Form and return it to the school nurse at your child's school. Nutrition services staff will partner with both the school nurse and the family to make accommodations in the case of a disability. We will make reasonable accommodations based on the wide inventory of items that we usually have in inventory for all other requests.

Note:  It may take several weeks to prepare an individualized meal plan with a completed special diet statement.  Parents/guardians are responsible to provide meals from home for their student until a completed meal plan is in place. 

Offer vs. serve is a system that decreases food waste while giving students greater flexibility in choosing what to eat for school breakfast or lunch.

Breakfast

• Students must take a combination of two or three of the four items offered (depending on serving size for the meal) to qualify for a reimbursable meal.

Lunch

• Students must take a serving of fruit OR vegetable plus two additional options of the five food items offered for the meal to qualify as a reimbursable meal. This is the minimum under federal program regulations.
• Students may take smaller portions of the declined items.
• The meal must be priced as a unit. That is, a student who takes two, four or five food items, or smaller portions of some items, pays the same price.

Under specific criteria, state and federal governments may reimburse school districts for a portion of the cost of producing school meals. Reimbursable meals are combinations of food items served to students at breakfast and lunch that meet either nutrition standards or calorie levels or the meal pattern specified in federal regulations. These meals are also priced as a unit (the advertised price). Because the meal needs to be purchased as a unit, we may ask students to take an additional item if they do not have a complete meal. The district does not receive reimbursement when students purchase a second meal. In that event, students are charged the full cost of an adult meal.

OR

"Non-reimbursable" is a term we use when a student does not take what the USDA considers a "complete lunch". Each lunch menu consists of a minimum of five components: milk, protein, grain, fruit and vegetable item. A student must take a fruit or a vegetable item and two other different items from the menu in order for the lunch to be a "complete lunch". When a student does not select a complete lunch, we are not reimbursed by federal and state agencies. If we are not reimbursed for the meal, we must pass those charges on to the student. The non-reimbursable lunch cost reflects the actual cost of the meal. 

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/ad-3027.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: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) is a federal grant program that provides fresh fruit or vegetable snacks to students in the classroom at qualifying K-5 and K-8 schools. It’s a great way to get students excited about eating healthy and trying new fruits & vegetables. 

All Richfield elementary schools are participating in the 2023-24 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. RPS Nutrition Services serves fresh fruit and vegetable snacks to students at participating schools Monday-Friday. Each month, the FFVP menu features a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to provide students the opportunity to try and learn about new foods.