Food & Nutrition Services

Your child’s safety is important to us.  To ensure Food and Nutrition is aware of your child’s particular dietary restrictions, such as allergies or diabetes, it is necessary for the parent or guardian of the child to submit a doctor’s note to the school nurse every year. You need to give permission to the nurse to release the information to Food and Nutrition. This is to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule.  Please send in a parent letter and documentation from a medical authority stating the foods that are potentially dangerous or life threatening. If your child is lactose intolerant, a signed medical note from your physician (required by the state) must be on file in order for an alternative drink to be offered in place of milk. This must be a medical condition, not a preference and does not apply to á la carte food sales.

Community Eligibility Provision

The Syracuse City School District has entered into an agreement with The NYS Department of Education Child Nutrition Administration to offer meals free of charge to all students of the City School District beginning with the 2012/2013 school year. To qualify, our student population is directly matched to the benefits they receive through several documented programs. Reimbursement is based on the percentage (plus a multiplier) of documented students. This reimbursement is guaranteed for a minimum of four years, with an option for a fifth available.  SCSD has qualified for a new cycle beginning with the 2017-18 school year.

While this program benefits all students regarding meal service, it is still vitally important that we continue to collect eligibility applications to continue other services offered by the District.  You may access the Parent Letter & Instructions and the Household Income Eligibility application with a link to the right. There are many competitive grants that use the financial information collected from the Household Income Eligibility Form.

Annually, the Syracuse City School District sends out an application to all parents or guardians of students attending the District requesting the application be completed and returned. A self-addressed stamped envelope is provided with the application. If you have received a request to complete a Household Income Eligibility form, please complete one application for all family members. This assists in getting all of the information on one application and eliminates the need to complete an application for each child.  The application is valid during the current school year and through the last day of September of the next school year.

If you feel you do not qualify you may complete the application by stating that you do not qualify across the body of the application. Please identify the students at the top of the application and sign at the bottom. No other information is necessary.  If you are unsure whether you will qualify, a household income chart is included with the request for application.  If your income, based on your family size, falls below the income listed in the income chart you qualify and we request that you fill out the application completely and return it.