Food Services

Now through June 30, 2029: All students in all buildings eat for free

The Minisink Valley School District and food service vendor Whitsons Culinary Group are committed to providing students with a high quality food services program featuring local produce, and nutritious, fresh foods, prepared daily and attractively presented. Our Food Services team is proud of the healthy food served in our cafeterias. Our team works hard to create fresh and nutritious meals which give our students the energy to learn and play.

View mobile menus via Whitsons' "FDMealPlanner"

Visit Whitsons Culinary Group's state-of-the-art mobile menu viewing platform which gives parents/students menu planning, nutrition information, meal ingredients and real time allergen information. This user friendly menu viewing tool also allows you to build your own profile, or a profile for your entire family of students, and then save your account preferences.

To do so, visit FDMeal Planner or download the free FDMealPlanner app to your mobile device:

Google Play (for Android devices): FDMealPlanner
App Store (for Apple devices) FDMealPlanner

Nutritious breakfasts and lunches every school day

All food and beverage items offer in our schools each day are in accordance with the Federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, and meet all other local and state regulations.

The Minisink Valley School District is amending its policy for serving meals for children served under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program beginning in 2024-25 school year, which will now allow for students in all buildings to be served meals for FREE.

This change is effective Sept. 5, 2024 and will be in place through June 30, 2029. There is no action required by parents/guardians in order for students to receive free meals.

This implementation is a result of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) expanding access to the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP allows eligible schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to offer school meals at no charge to all students.

With the district’s CEP designation, all students attending in person can receive one “complete” breakfast and one “complete” lunch per school day at no cost, eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for families. According to New York State guidelines, in order to access the free meal benefit, a student must take what counts as a complete meal, which means choosing at least three of the five components (including a vegetable or fruit). Food Services staff will guide students in understanding what makes a complete meal.

A complete breakfast consists of four components to choose from:

Whole Grains: 2-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1)
Protein: 1-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1)
Fruit: 4-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1 or 2)
Milk: 8-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1)

Note: Students must choose at least three components offered with one of those being a fruit or an incomplete meal will be charged at à la carte prices.

A complete lunch consists of 5 components:

Whole grains: 2-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1)
Protein: 2-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1)
Vegetable: 4-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1 or 2)
Fruit: 4-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1 or 2)
Milk: 8-ounce equivalent serving (choose 1)

NOTE: Students must choose at least three components offered with one of those being a vegetable or fruit or an incomplete meal will be charged at à la carte prices.

REMINDER: There’s no change to à la carte items purchases. Students must purchase these extra items. In addition, only the first breakfast and first lunch of the day are free. A second breakfast or second lunch would need to be purchased. Student accounts must have sufficient funds in their prepaid accounts for these purchases.

“Smart Snacks in School”

In addition to the daily meals, students in grades K-12 have the opportunity to purchase foods and beverages “à la carte” during breakfast and lunch periods. These items comply with the “Smart Snacks in School” nutrition standards which limit caloric, sodium, fat and sugar content.

This program provides students with supplemental nourishment to accommodate their busy schedules and extra-curricular activities.

My SchoolBucks

MySchoolBucks is the online payment system used for paying for meals.

My SchoolBucks allows parents and guardians to quickly, conveniently, and securely pay for student meals using a credit card, debit card, or electronic check. Some families had been using this online payment system to purchase additional items during their student’s lunch period during the time that free meals were available.

My SchoolBucks also allows parents and guardians to view their child’s account balance, receive optional alerts when balances are low, and see what food purchases were made, at any time, from their computer or phone via mobile app.

To learn more, fund the account or to open an account for the first time, visit: My SchoolBucks

Parents continue to have the option of prepaying with cash or check. Checks should be made payable to Minisink Valley CSD.

If you have any questions on how to set up your child’s MySchoolBucks account, contact Cheryl Bellew, at 845-355-5116 or Debbie Williams at 845-355-5217.

Important note:
Even though all students in all buildings will be served meals for FREE, we encourage families to fill out the Household Income Eligibility Form, which may qualify them for other selected discounted services as identified by New York State.

Household Income Eligibility Form

Paper copies can be obtained at the main office of each school, or the office of Diane Super, registrar and school lunch coordinator, or by email: dsuper@minisink.com.

Food Services

Now through June 30, 2029: All students in all buildings eat for free

For more information