Welcome to Union School District Food Services Department. 

Can you eat a Rainbow? This semester the Food Service Department will introduce our 2nd-8th grade students to a fresh fruit & vegetable food bar. On a daily basis, the students will serve themselves to how ever much fresh salad, veggies, and fruit that they can eat. We plan to bring in some new and different seasonal fruits and vegetables. I have been intrigued by carnival colored cauliflower, blue potatoes, uglifruit, the list goes on. Some vegetables might not be known to everyone, but we want to show the students all the available colors. Introduce them to shapes, colors, and things that will be new and different to them. Along with the education piece to food service, we want to help our students grow up with an interest in food. We will offer traditional fruits and vegetables on our food bar; we wanted to see if we could eat a rainbow. 

Our primary job is to provide breakfast and lunch to our students and staff. This year we are providing Breakfast in the Classroom at our Dos Rios and Hurley school sites. During the 2009-10 school year, we served 224,000 breakfasts in the classroom that was a 106,000 increase from the prior year. We have found over the years that a child or teacher with an empty stomach is lethargic, irritable, and not able to participate fully in the learning experience. By keeping everyone fed and happy, we are playing a vital role in the education experience.  

The Food Service Department is a self-supporting arm of the district. It is our responsibility to generate revenue to pay for food, supplies, labor, and equipment needed for the various food programs. Our nutrition program is organized and administered for the benefit of students. Every student should be able to enjoy a well-balanced quality meal at a reasonable cost.

The Food Service Department plans menus that we feel appeal to our students. We plan the kids' favorites, and then a few "comfort food" menus and we also look at holiday/celebration days to add some pizzazz. We offer a variety of foods to help meet the students' nutritional needs as well as likes and dislikes. We plan menus then use a computer program to figure the nutritional analysis of the menu for calories, fat content, sodium, etc. It's difficult to plan menus for students that need the extra calories and nutrition for their fast growing bodies.

If you have additional questions, please call the Food Service Office at (623) 478-5010.

Adult Meals: Parents are welcome to join their student for breakfast or lunch anytime. We simply ask them check in at the school office and obtain a visitors pass when coming for lunch or breakfast. Adult meal prices are $2.50 for lunch.

Each student gets a four (4) to eight (8) digit ID number to memorize. When the student comes in for lunch, they put their number in the pin pad. The computer knows the child's name, status, and the amount of money on account. We do make some allowances for our younger students as it takes Kindergarten and first grade students a while to learn their ID numbers.
You can make deposits at any time with a check, money order, or cash. If you are full price paid or qualify for reduced priced meals, you need to make weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payments to your child’s account.

We have a two-charge policy: Please make sure that you are up-to-date on your child's meal purchases because we enjoy seeing all the happy faces coming through the lunch line. Students without money will receive a sandwich and milk. If you have a question as to the number of meals left on the account, please call the school’s cafeteria and ask for the Food Service Cashier.

If you feel you qualify for the Free and Reduced Price Meal Program, please download a copy of the Free and Reduced Meal Application for your use and turn it into the cafeteria. You should get a written notice in about a week. If you don't get a response, contact the school cafeteria. The number is on the front of all the menus.

Please be aware that our office does not have access to information that is confidential with the DES Office. We therefore do not automatically know who receives CA, FDPIR, or SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits. You must provide this information to us either in the form of the DES Notification Letter or in the Meal Application.

If your child was approved for free or reduced meals during the 2009-10 school year, and you wish to continue to receive those benefits, you must reapply by September 15, 2010 to avoid interruption of benefits.