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Food Services

Bexley Schools Offers Universal Free Breakfast

The school year 2023-2024 Bexley City School District will provide free breakfast to all students. 

This program will ensure all Bexley City School students have access to breakfast through the end of the school year and will also allow us to collect data related to student food-security needs by tracking participation. The program also will provide an opportunity to properly survey our community at the district level to determine additional needs, particularly for families with income above the USDA threshold needed to qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.

The Bexley Board of Education will consider the success of this pilot program next summer.

 

It’s Breakfast Time!

Breakfast will be served in each school building cafeteria at the following times:

Cassingham Complex: 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Maryland Elementary: 7:45-8:10 a.m.

Montrose Elementary: 7:45-8:10 a.m.

 

What’s for Breakfast?

In order for a breakfast to be free, a student must select one  item from three of the four different food groups: grains, fruits, vegetables, and milk. 

The following are examples of a whole breakfast that would be free:

  • Whole grain muffin, applesauce, cheese stick, and milk. 
  • Cereal bowl, orange juice cup, and milk. 
  • English muffin sandwich, banana, and juice cup. 

Breakfast options vary from day to day, but a variety of options are always available. 

Students who select a single food item rather than a whole breakfast will need to pay for that item individually.

PaySchoolsCentral.com

PayschoolsCentral.com is the platform we use to manage student meal accounts. Parents/guardians are able to access the data to see recent student purchases and set low-balance email reminders at no cost. Online payments, for a fee, can be made through the parent/guardian account as well. 
The cafeterias continue to take cash or checks (payable to Bexley City Schools) at the registers. 

Meal Pricing

Meal pricing has increased. We haven't raised prices in over a decade, absorbing increased costs overtime. However with such significant increased food costs due to supply chain disruption and increased delivery fees, we saw no alternative than to modestly bump our prices up 20 cents for lunches. The new costs are: 

Elementary Lunch $3.70
Middle School Lunch $3.95
High School Lunch $3.95
Adult Lunch $4.95

Allergies and Intolerances

It is the family’s responsibility to inform the school of a known serious or life-threatening allergy.
 
Both the New Student Registration questionnaire and the Returning Student Verification questionnaire allow parents/guardians to indicate allergies or food intolerances for their students. Aside from these two questionnaires that are completed prior to the start of school, a parent/guardian should contact the school nurse at any time during the school year to share information about allergies and food intolerances.
 
If anything is unclear, contact our Director of Food Services, Julianna Carvi, at 614-231-7611 x4104. The Food Services staff works closely with our school nurses and parents/guardians to ensure we serve food that is safe for your child to consume. 
 
We are a nut-free, peanut-free, and pork-free facility. 
 
If you have a personal family choice (eg. vegetarian or vegan) we will make note of it on the student's account. However, if a student actively chooses to take an item that will not cause them medical harm we will allow to make that choice for themselves.

Charging Policy-When a student has a zero or negative balance.

We differentiate between students buying food which is done with cash or debiting their pre-paid meal account and charging their accounts for meals when there are zero or negative funds in the accounts.  

There are different allowances on what we allow younger elementary age students to buy beyond the meal depending on the elementary school they attend but by 4th grade all students have access to ala carte items as well as the full menu. All ala carte items are Smartsnack compliant, per the USDA. They may buy items unless parents ask for restrictions to be placed on a child's account. 

Charging is when a child has a zero or negative balance on their account. We do no allow students to charge miscellaneous items; only a full lunch.
 
A full meal is the entrée, up to four fruit or vegetable options and milk. Students may not charge anything else. If your student's account is in arrears it is due to your child being served meals at meal time.

All accounts must be have a zero or positive balance by the last day of school. You will be notified routinely and often if your student's account is in arrears. Please keep a positive balance on all accounts. Parents/Guardians are responsible for the price of the charged meal(s). The district may pursue legal action against delinquent debts. 

Please apply find the Free Meal Application here. We accept applications throughout the school year. 
 
See the Charging Policy for specific details. 

Access and Limits

All 4th grade and older student have access to purchase Smart Snack compliant snacks and beverages. -Some 2nd and 3rd graders have access too, depending on the school they attend. The items are scrutinized for calories, sodium and whole grains which meet limits set by the Healthy Hunger Free Kid Act. 

Purchased for ala carte items are paid in cash or debited from a student's pre-paid lunch account. When a child has zero or a negative balance on their account they can only receive a full meal. The cost of the full meal will be charged to the students' account and the parent will be responsible for the charges incurred. 

We know learning about money is tricky and the school cafeteria is one of the first places children have the chance to make decisions about spending. Sometimes they are making bad food decisions and you want to set limitations. We are here to support everyone, students and their parents/guardians. 

If you have not already established an account with Payschoolscentral.com to see your student's activity please do. One way to get daily notification of their spending is to set an automatic low balance reminder at a high dollar amount and you will be notified every time a purchase is made.  For example if you set a $100 low balance reminder with $99 or less in the account you will be notified every time a transaction happens on the account. 

To set limits email Julianna Carvi. It can be set by dollar amount or closing access to specific items. Any limitation a parent/guardian requests stays on a student's account from grade to grade until a parent/guardian notifies us to remove it. You can also fill out this spending limit form, and send it with your child. 

Staff Meals FAQs

FAQs for Staff Meals at Bexley City Schools

Staff and students have the same access to the food. There are no ‘staff only’ items. 

 

How do I get an ID number? Email [email protected] and she will email you an ID number.

 

What’s the Cost? A staff meal is $4.95. Middle and High School student meals are $3.95. Yes, their meals are subsidized about a dollar in federal money. That’s why there is a difference. 

 

How to pay? We take cash or checks at the register, but no credit cards. We encourage you to get an ID to rest money on your account- to have a positive balance- it is quicker to get you through the line than handling cash for every transaction. You can use cash or checks at the registers. To use a credit card: go to www.payschoolscentral.com to put money on your account. 

 

Can I carry a negative balance? No. That’s not a good way to do business, but we won’t let you starve. If you find yourself without lunch and no cash or checks we’ll spot you for the day. 

 

What is a Meal? A meal consists of milk, a grain, a meat or meat alternative (cheese, tofu, legumes), 2 vegetables and 2 fruits. We encourage you to maximize your purchase. Most entrees cost $2.65 and most sides cost $1.00 when purchased a la carte. When you select 2 or more sides with an entrée we’ll charge you the price of a meal, $4.50, not $4.65, so optimize and grab a fruit for later and take the milk if you’ll drink it. Alternatively, don’t take what you won’t eat. That is the number one rule of reducing food waste. Reducing food waste is why we offer many options.

 

What are the fruit and vegetable sides? Fresh whole fruit, daily cut fruit, applesauce, peach or pear cups, a small salad or the daily vegetable. At the Cassingham Complex you may find additional offerings like soup or different salads. A combination of any of 4 of these can be added to an entrée and milk to make a lunch. For students they are required to take at least one, but may take up to four. 

 

What is www.PaySchoolsCentral.com? It’s the hub of activity for information about your account. Once registered you can set up low balance reminders, pay on-line with a credit card, create a scannable ID, and see account activity. There is a fee to pay on-line, but otherwise it is free to use. 

 

Pro tip: Bring salt from home. 

 

Specific to Cassingham Complex (not Montrose and Maryland): 

Can items in the cold case be an entrée? Yes. You may find sandwiches, and big salads, hummus and parfaits. All of these can be part of a $4.95 lunch. Please ask anyone working in the department what you can add to optimize your meal. . 

 

When are the service hours? 10:45-12:45. At other schools check with the office for times. 

 

Really, how do I navigate the line? Enter the lunch line at the “enter” doors, “Lions” or “Cubs”. You can ask a student to let you in front of them. They will let you. :) Grab a milk, any fruit, and tell the server which items you’d like. The soup is on the ledge, the salads are in the black, cold case cooler. There are drinks in the cooler too. When you get to the cashier, tell them your ID or name, or punch it into the pad. If you have money on your account, they will key in the transaction and say good day. If not, have your cash or check ready to pay before you get to them. Condiments are on the other side of the cashier. We have most things, aside from salt. 

 

Other Questions? If you have any questions about our program ask me. I love talking about food service from the Farm Bill to food allergies to monetary literacy for students. Ask me Anything.

 

Julianna Carvi, Director of Food Service for BCSD

[email protected]

614.231.7611 ext. 4104

Bio Metric Scanner

Student Food Service Purchasing System 

The Bexley City Schools Food Service Department is implementing a new technology to process student food service purchases in the 2019-2020 school year.  


Students will purchase their food with the touch of their finger instead of using a 6-digit code. A finger scan will be collected for each student, this scan generates a unique pattern and code used to directly connect to a student’s food service account within one second.  


This system does not collect or store images of fingerprints and the scanned pattern cannot be used to recreate a fingerprint in any way or by any entity.  

 

Frequently Asked Questions 

How does the Finger Scan Work? 

  • A student’s finger is scanned by the finger scanner. 

  • The computer develops a grid of intersection points around the unique swirls and arcs of the scanned finger. 

  • A template is created by the software to show this unique intersection.  

  • The software stores a set of numbers or a code that can only be interpreted as a template in the system.  

  • Student returns to scan their finger to pay for their lunch.  

  • In under one second, the computer compares the scan with the templates in the system and identifies the matching account.  

How is this different than fingerprinting? 

Law enforcement agencies that collect fingerprints capture rolled images of all 10 fingers which captures unique identifying points on the entire finger surface thereby collecting the maximum number of unique identifying points.  


The student identification software scans flat images of one finger to create templates. This scan collects only the center of the finger and requires only a small number of unique identifying points to make a match. It’s purpose is to identify a student already enrolled in the software. 


Can my fingerprint be given to anyone else? 

There are no images of fingerprints stored in the system, the system only stores numerical representations of the unique points identified in a finger scan. This data cannot be used to recreate a fingerprint in any way.  


Can my scanned data be used to re-create a fingerprint? 

No. There is no way for any fingerprint expert or law enforcement agency or anyone else to take the numerical representations stored to reconstruct a fingerprint image from the data. There is no way to “reverse identify” a person.  


Can my fingerprint be copied or used by anyone else? 

No. It is impossible to duplicate or falsify fingerprints from the information stored by the computer system. 


Are my finger scan templates available to anyone else? 

No. This information is only stored and is protected by the system for Bexley City School use only.  

Cash Refund Policy

Overall, the balance on the account stays with the student through the years and follows from year to year to Middle then High schools. Upon graduation we communicate with parent/guardian and with their direction we: 

Transfer the funds to a younger sibling.
Refund the student cash if the balance is less than $20.
Send a check to the parent/guardian if it is over $20 (Please indicate to whom we write the check and the address to send it.) 
Donate the balance to unpaid meal charges of other students. 

We will refund any funds at any point upon request too. Email [email protected] 

USDA Non Discrimination Policy

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/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.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:
    [email protected]

 

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Food Services Director

Julianna Carvi
Julianna Carvi has been at Bexley City Schools since 2013. In that time she's changed the cafeteria in numerous ways with plans to do even more. With previous experience at the Ohio School for the Deaf and Ohio State School for the Blind and in the restaurant business, Ms. Carvi holds an MBA, ODE's Business Manager's License and a School Nutrition Specialist certification. Her interests include baking for friends and reading as much as possible. 

Food Services Director
Bexley City School District
348 South Cassingham Road
Bexley, Ohio 43209
(614) 231-7611 ext. 4104

Menus

Elementary Menu
Elementary menu March to May 2024
Spring Menu HS & MS
Menu for Middle and High School
Nutritional Info
Lunch Menu Nutritional Info