Make sure to set a reminder to put lunch money in your account! Because for the 2022-2023 school year, meal fees are coming back. On Aug. 22, the Wentzville School District resumed charging for meals, with breakfasts being $1.95 and secondary lunches being $3.10. Parents will be able to fund their child’s lunches through SIS Parent Portal. 

According to the Food Research and Action Center, “The new school meal nutrition standards are having a positive impact on student food selection and consumption, especially for fruits and vegetables.”

Back when COVID was a big issue, the district announced free lunch meals for all students in the Wentzville School District for the 2021-2022 school year. These meals were funded and provided from a program set up by the federal government, but has now been discontinued.

Though there are some issues that come along with having meal fees back. For example, the free lunch program benefited student health and their well being, food insecurity levels also decreased. Without the free food program, the food insecurity levels are said to rise again. Even before the pandemic, those levels were already dangerously increasing. 

According to research from Tufts University, in Massachusetts, “Schools are now the single healthiest place Americans are eating.”

If you need help: 

The district is also helping out families who may have a lower income. There are applications for free/or reduced lunch prices parents can fill out and apply for; parents can click here to apply (only one application per household). Once the application is filled out, it can be returned to the child’s school, through email ([email protected]), call (636-327-3961), or mail (Child Nutrition Services, 101 Support Service Dr., Wentzville, MO 63385). To help families transition back into the normal paid meals, the USDA has increased the income guidelines used to determine eligibility.