School Nutrition

To view menus, pay for school meals and apply for free/reduced meals, click on the link below:

SchoolCafé

For information on how to register for SchoolCafé, make payment, view menus, and more, click on the links below:

SchoolCafé Parent Guide        SchoolCafé Menus Walkthrough (Vimeo)

To determine if your family qualifies for meal benefits, submit the online application or complete and return the printed application as soon as possible. Households are responsible for payment of meals until you receive notification of approval for the free or reduced lunch program.

Online Application

Printed applications are also available:

Meal Application (English)

Meal Application (Spanish)

Letter to Household (English)

Letter to Household (Spanish)

Application Instructions (English)

Application Instructions (Spanish)

School Meal Prices

Charge Policy

School Wellness Plan

Smartsnack Standards Guidelines

Action for Healthy Kids

School Nutrition Employee Handbook

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, 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 the USDA website (https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.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.

Parents may bring outside food for their own students but are not encouraged to share food with other students due to possible dietary requirements or allergies the other students may have.

Parents are not allowed to charge anything on their student’s account and must pay by cash, check, or money order if they get any meals or ala carte items from the cafeteria. Unfortunately, these are the only forms of payment we accept on-site. 

Parents are not allowed to eat or consume food off a student’s tray, according to federal regulations.

While students are allowed to save uneaten portions of a snack or meal to consume later, they are to be served and consumed onsite and must not be taken off campus to eat later with the exception to a school field trip.

You may apply for free or reduced meals on the Whitehouse ISD website in the School Nutrition link or through the School café app. Please keep in mind, the parent is responsible for any charges incurred before the meal application is processed. School nutrition has 10 business days to process a meal application once received.

Free or Reduced Meal Application

Breakfast: Students are offered a choice of entrée, fruit, 100% fruit juice and choice of milk. With the exception of Pre K, students must choose 3 of the food items offered, one being fruit or 100% fruit juice, for it to qualify as a full meal. For example: A chicken biscuit (2 food items) and fruit would be considered a complete meal because it meets the minimum amount and a fruit was selected. But the student could have also selected (at no additional charge), chicken biscuit, fruit, 100% fruit juice and milk. Students can also select a no entrée meal
which would consist of two fruits or fruit/juice and milk. Pre K are required to be served all food components.

Lunch: Students are offered food from the 5 food groups, also known as food components (meat or meat alternate, grain, fruit, vegetable, and milk). With the exception of Pre K, students must choose 3 of the 5 food components, one being fruit or vegetable, for it to qualify as a full meal. For example: A hamburger (grain and protein) and a fruit would be considered a complete meal because it meets the minimum number of components and a fruit or vegetable was selected. But the students could have also selected instead (at no additional charge),
hamburgers, fruit, vegetable x 2 and milk or a no entrée fruit, veggies, and milk. Pre K are required to be served food from all five components. When a student selects the maximum number of food choices vs the minimum at breakfast and lunch, it is much more filling while adding important nutrients, which would also prevent hunger by the next mealtime.

Yes, every student has a meal account, whether they eat in the cafeteria or not. A parent with a student in PK/HS-2 nd grade can request their lunch card be removed from the cafeteria if their student does not eat cafeteria food. Most students start working to learn their id number since they will keep that id# throughout their enrollment and use it for meal accounts and at the library.

All cafeterias receive payments at registers. You can add funds by cash, check or money order. You can also make payments by using an online service called School Café.

Click here for School Café

When adding money to your student’s account through School Café, there is a 3.5% convenience fee. Payments are immediately displayed in the pending payments area. Usually, funds are available within 20 minutes but could take up to 48 hours. You can add multiple students to your school café account. If you have a new student it can take up to 48 hours before they will show up in school café, so it may be a good idea to send funds with them for meals on the first few days of school. School café does not transfer to any other school district; you must request a refund if your student is no longer enrolled.

Yes, you may go into your child’s School café account and put restrictions on their account. OR you may call the School Nutrition office and have restrictions placed on their account.

The student will be given the option to receive the change from a cash transaction or to put the change on his or her account. Students or parents may specify the money given to the cafeteria staff to be divided into other siblings’ accounts. If money is requested to be divided into multiple student accounts, the staff will divide the money equally unless the parent or student specifies an amount for each student account. Receipts via print-out, can be given upon request.

All Student Breakfast: $2.00, Second Breakfast: $2.50
Elementary (PK-5 th ) Lunch: $3.25, Second Lunch: $3.75
Secondary schools (6 th -12 th ) Lunch: $3.50, Second Lunch: $4.00
Reduced meals are Free for the 26/27 School Year
Adult Breakfast: $3.50; Adult Lunch: $4.75

School Nutrition Services is reimbursed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for each "complete" or "reimbursable" meal served. This applies only for first meals served to students. Second meals served are not reimbursed by the USDA, therefore, second meals will be charged to cover the cost of the meal.

The intent of the National School Lunch Program is to provide nutritious and low cost meals to children. Since this program is for children, there is no federal assistance for meals served to adults. Therefore, the adult meal charge must be at least a combination of the basic reimbursement rate plus the guaranteed value of USDA commodities (per plate) and higher than the highest charge to the child in the school district. An adult
should receive the same size meal as that of a student.

Parents do not have a meal account; therefore, they are not allowed to charge anything they get from the cafeteria. Parents must pay with cash, check or a money order at the time they receive the items.

Students are allowed to charge a reimbursable meal only. No ala carte items or second meals can be charged to a student’s meal account. They must have cash in hand if their meal account is already negative and they would like to buy an ala carte item.

If your child has money left in his/her account at the end of a school year, the money will be available on the first day of school the following year. This is true whether the child remains in the same school or moves to another Whitehouse ISD school. You may also receive a refund if you would like by contacting the school nutrition office at 903-839-5658 or requesting refund through the school cafe link.

You must turn a doctor’s note, with their signature, stating what their specific allergies are to the campus nurse. They will forward the information to the School Nutrition office so we can make a notation to the students’ account. We may call the parent/guardian for clarification etc. if there are any questions.

No, we are not a peanut or nut-free district. We follow all dietary guidelines and work with families and school nurses to accommodate the student.

The school wellness policy is on the Whitehouse ISD website in the Health Services link under School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) as well as the School Nutrition link. All parties and food-related events must be scheduled after meal services or in a separate location while meal service is in operation.