Dear Northeast Dubois Families,

This school year, Northeast Dubois School cafeterias are meeting tough federal nutrition standards for school meals, ensuring that meals are healthy, well-balanced, and provide students all the nutrition they need to succeed at school. Now is a great time to encourage your kids to choose school lunch and breakfast!

School meals offer milk, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grains, and they must meet strict limits on saturated fat and portion size. School lunches will meet additional standards requiring:
-Age-appropriate calorie limits
-Larger servings of fruits and vegetables (students must take at least on     serving of produce)
-A wide variety of vegetables including dark green and red/orange vegetables and legumes
-Fat free or 1% milk (flavored milk must be fat free)
-Whole grains
-Less sodium

School meals are a huge convenience for busy families! We will again offer breakfast and lunch
for all students.

We encourage all households to carefully look over the forms attached to this letter. If your household qualifies for free or reduced meals, that may qualify the student/students for textbook assistance also. Please fill out the forms and return as soon as possible. In accordance with state guidelines, the Northeast Dubois School Board has adopted a Written Charging Policy for our schools and can be viewed on our school’s website.

We look forward to welcoming your children to the cafeteria this year!

Thank You,

Katie Hackney
Food Service Director
Northeast Dubois School Corporation

For all other FNS nutrition assistance programs, state or local agencies, and their subrecipients, must post the following Nondiscrimination Statement:

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:
   Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Free/Reduced Parent Letter 2026-2027

Free/Reduced Application 2026-2027

A Family Guide to School Nutrition

Offer Versus Serve (OVS) at Breakfast

NOTIFICATION LETTER FOR HOUSEHOLDS

Our school nutrition department participates in the School Breakfast Program, and implements Offer versus Serve.  OVS allows students to decline some of the food offered as part of a complete meal.  The goals of OVS are to reduce food waste in the school nutrition programs and to allow students more customization of the meal they select.  For general OVS guidelines, please read the Understanding the Breakfast Line section below.

Understanding the Breakfast Line

At breakfast, all students have the opportunity to take, at a minimum, milk, fruit, and grains.  We also may add protein and vegetables to the breakfast offerings.  While the most nutritious breakfast contains all of the offered items, we understand that sometimes our students do not like some of the items we serve.  To make our customers happy, we like to give them the option to decline items they do not want to eat.

For breakfast, students must choose at least three offered items for their meal.  One of the items selected must be a fruit or vegetable. 

Example Menu for Breakfast*
Egg Sandwich on a Biscuit (Noted here as one item)
1/2 cup Seasoned Potatoes
1 cup Strawberries
8oz of Milk

With Offer versus Serve at breakfast, your student could choose:

• Seasoned Potatoes, Strawberries, and Milk (Vegetable + Fruit + Milk)
• Biscuit Sandwich, Strawberries, and Milk (Grain + Fruit + Milk)
• Biscuit Sandwich, Strawberries, and Seasoned Potatoes (Grain + Fruit + Vegetable)

Even though the school participates in Offer versus Serve, students are not required to decline items and can take all items offered.  The choice is up to them!  If you student comes home and says they did not get enough to eat at breakfast, ask if they are taking all of the items offered to them.  Don't hesitate to reach out to Joyce Hulsman at 812-678-2251 ext 385 if you have any questions about the menu.

*Keep in mind that some cafeterias offer multiple options within each food group and many offer different  serving styles such as breakfast in the classroom.  Talk with our team if you have any questions about the choices your student has at breakfast.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Northeast Dubois School Corporation
Procedure for Student Lunch/Meal Accounts

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) requires school food authorities to establish written
administrative guidelines and procedures for meal charges. Northeast Dubois School Corporation
will adhere to the following meal charge procedure.
 All cafeteria purchases are to be prepaid before meal service begins with the exemption
of the high school where meals may be purchased at point of sale.
 A student may charge up to 5 meals maximum (one charge per meal) as long as they
establish and maintain a good credit history of making payments on their food service
accounts.
 A staff member may charge up to $10.00 as long as they establish and maintain a good
credit history of making payments on their food service accounts.
 A student who has charged a meal may not charge or purchase "a la carte" item(s),
including extra main entrees.
 If a student repeatedly comes to school with no lunch and no money, food service
employees must report this to the building principal as this may be a sign of abuse or
neglect and the proper authorities should be contacted.
 Schools may deny a meal to a student who pays reduced or full price and who does not
provide the required payment for that meal. However if the student who pays reduced or
full price has enough money in hand for a meal that day, they will not be denied a meal.
OR
o Schools will provide an alternative meal of peanut butter & jelly & milk to a
student who pays reduced or full price and who does not provide the required
payment for that meal.

 The food service manager or other school personnel will coordinate communications with
the parent(s)/guardian(s) to resolve the matter of unpaid charges.
 If food services staff suspects that a student may be abusing this policy, written notice
will be provided to the parent(s)/guardian(s) that if he/she continues to abuse this policy,
the privilege of charging meals will be refused.
OR
o If food services staff suspects that a student may be abusing this policy, written
notice will be provided to the parent(s)/guardian(s) that if he/she continues to
abuse this policy, the privileges of an alternative meal will be refused.

 The school secretary will notify parents every weekly of any outstanding negative balance
in the student’s lunch/meal account. The food service manager will also send home
emails each week to parents of students who carry negative balances.
 All accounts must be settled at the end of school. Letters will be sent home approximately
5 days before the end of school to students who have any negative balances. Negative
balances of more than $10.00 not paid in full 1 day prior to the end of school will force
the Corporation to take action to collect unpaid funds by means of collection agencies,
small claims court, or any other legal method deemed necessary by the Corporation.
 Students who graduate or withdraw from the corporation and have $2.00 or more left in
their lunch/meal food service account will be notified by mail by food services at the end
of school and given the option to transfer the funds to another student or to receive a
refund. Students who graduate or withdraw from the corporation and have less than $2.00
will not receive a direct notification by mail, but the household can contact Northeast
Dubois School Corporation to receive a refund. If no response is received within 5 days
the student’s lunch/meal account will close and the funds will no longer be available.
Unclaimed remaining balances will be transferred to the Cafeteria fund.

Ala Carte Line Pricing- 2026-2027