GISD Child Nutrition
Free Meals for All Students
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Gainesville ISD will continue to provide free meals for all students for the 2024-2025 school year. GISD qualified for the Communication Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, which will allow GISD to provide breakfast and lunch to all children at no charge.
The program will once again enable ALL students in GISD to receive free breakfast and lunch without the requirement for families to complete the National School Lunch Program free/reduced meal application. However, districts in the CEP program are required to collect an income survey from all families. The survey is now included during the registration process. This simple and concise form will provide valuable information that will assist GISD in qualifying for a multitude of grants from additional funding sources. The survey is collected via paper form when school begins.
Students Who Pack Lunch Get Additional Items from the Café for Free
Does your child pack a lunch, but you still want them to have a couple of additional healthier items? They can get them in the café for free! Many students who pack a lunch will still come in and get a fruit and vegetable to compliment the items they brought from home. This can also be a stress reliever for parents who want their kids to still have a well-balanced meal but may not have those items at home for kids to pack.Minimum Requirement for Students to Receive for Free:
The student must take a minimum of 3 items of those 3 items, 1 of them must be a fruit or a vegetable.
Examples: 1 Carton of Milk, 1 Apple, 1 side of Celery or 1 Juice, 1 side of Celery, 1 Side of Broccoli*A Child Nutrition Team Member will assist all students to make sure the correct items are taken.
The department follows Food Base Menu Planning. All meals must meet the Recommended Daily Allowance established by the USDA and the Texas Department of Agriculture. We research and evaluate every recipe in our menu to ensure they meet nutrition requirements measured by the following categories: Saturated Fat, Total Fat, Calories and Sodium. For further details on the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy please refer to the full policy at www.squaremeals.org.
Department Staff
Amanda Childs
Director of Child Nutrition
Chartwells K12
achilds@gainesvilleisd.org
Starla Edgett
GISD Child Nutrition Supervisor
sedgett@gainesvilleisd.org
Jonathon Strand
Chef
Chartwells K12
Kelsey Baldwin
Marketing Specialist
Chartwells K12
About GISD Child Nutrition
The mission of the Gainesville Independent School District Department of Child Nutrition is to continue to provide a place where students like to eat. It is our purpose to champion the educational process through nourishment, support, fun and excitement. We intend to accomplish these goals through the following objectives:
- Providing a dynamic dining environment that encourages participation.
- Generating revenue to further the availability of instructional and administrative resources.
- Uniting students, parents, teachers, administrators, board members and the community one meal at a time.
We are excited to serve up happy and healthy to Gainesville . We are proud to welcome students into school cafes loaded with new flavors, events, and wellness education! Our goal every day is to make sure that students leave the cafeteria happier and healthier than when they arrived.
Gainesville Independent School District partnered with Chartwells K12 will bring technology to the forefront of the dining experience to help students and parents make informed choices. We understand you want to know about the food your students eat – the ingredients and how it’s prepared. Nutrislice, our menu software platform, provides easy, up-to-date and immediate access to all Gainesville. Community School menus. You’ll have access to food descriptions, nutrition and allergen information.
Chartwells remains focused on feeding kids, taking care of our associates and supporting the Gainesville community. We recognize that the mealtime experience at each school may look very different this year. As your students return to school please know that Chartwells is committed to feeding the students of Gainesville in the safest way possible. Chartwells will support all scenarios and solutions designed to meet the needs of the changing school environment
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 AD3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-a-program-discrimination-complaint, 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; (2) fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. This institution is an equal opportunity provider