Beginning September 2, 2020 the NWLSD Food Service Department will serve free meals to all children, through December 31, 2020. This will help ensure – no matter what the situation is – children have access to nutritious food as the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes Pre-K and all K-12 students that are in-person and virtual. Students that are in-person will receive their meals daily while in school. Pre-K students will be required to pick up meals weekly (*see virtual learner meal instructions below).

NWLSD’s funding to offer free meals is through the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. They will be extending several nationwide waivers through the end of 2020, or until available funding runs out. This includes:

• Allowing all meals to be served at no cost;

• Permitting meals to be served outside of the typically-required group settings and meal times (ex: virtual learner meals to go);

• Allowing parents and guardians (with valid student ID) to pick-up meals for their children

Unfortunately, the USDA cannot fund this through the entire 2020-2021 school year as Congress did not authorize enough money.  Therefore, we STRONGLY encourage parents and guardians to fill out the free & reduced application found here www.payschoolscentral.com so you can continue to receive meals based upon your income eligibility once the USDA funding has run out.

Our cafeterias are cashless this year. Parents will need to apply money to their PaySchools account in order to pay for student snacks & drinks. Parents can add money to the meal account using debit and credit cards or by electronic check via PaySchools.

Parents who have never used PaySchools will need to set up an account to get started. To access the PaySchools site click here: https://payschoolscentral.com/. The link is also available on the district website under Parent Resources. The link will take you to the landing page where you can register. Parents will need their child’s student ID# (which is also their lunch #) to add them to your account. Once the account is established, parents can add money or pay fees using the PaySchools mobile app. PaySchools Mobile can be downloaded on your IOS or Android device. If you have any questions or issues please contact, PaySchools by phone at 1-877-393-6628 or by email [email protected].

Virtual Learners Meal information: 

Click here for more information about Remote Learning Meals

Should you have any questions, you may contact the Food Services Department at 513-522-6700.