Schools

School Meals Revamped: New Nutrition Standards and Debit Card System

The East Windsor Regional School District executes new nutrition standards and a new payment system this year.

The East Windsor Regional School District is implementing the new federal nutrition standards in all school cafeterias this upcoming school year. The new school lunches are healthy, well-balanced with nutrition, and meet strict limitations on portion size. 

The new school lunches will meet additional the following required standards:

  • Age-appropriate calorie limits 
  • Larger servings of vegetables and fruits (students must take at least one serving of produce) 
  • A wider variety of vegetables, including dark green and red/orange vegetables and legumes 
  • Fat-free or 1 percent milk (flavored milk must be fat-free) 
  • More whole grains 
  • Less sodium

Along with the new standards, the district has put a new computerized debit system into effect, replacing the traditional cash registers. The debit systems allows breakfast and lunch meals to be paid for in advance; a la carte items can also be paid for in advance. 

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Each student will be given a personal identification number (PIN) that they will enter into a twelve-key PIN pad on a machine that resembles an ATM machine located at the end of the serving line. Students will enter their PIN number into the key pad to access their account. All students will be required to enter their PIN number, even if they wish to pay for meals with cash, which will still be accepted. The students PIN number will be located on their lunch ticket and must be memorized. The PIN number will remain the same for each student as long as they are enrolled in the district. Therefore, each student will have their own personal debit account that will be confidential, regardless of their meal status (full-pay, free, or reduced) or payment method. 

The system will know their meal status and how much money is in the account. There is no maximum amount of money that can be deposited into the account. 

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Parents can choose between two options: 

1. Cash on Account: having money on the account for meals and a la carte foods where the money is decreased after each purchase.

2. Pre-paid Meals: money on the account that is designated for student meals only. Any snack or a la carte items will need to be purchased with cash. To calculate this payment option, you must determine how many meals you wish to purchase and then multiply the price of the meal. 

A detachable form needs to be filled out and returned to the school with the first deposit, preferably a check made payable to EWRSD. For more information and the form, click here


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