STUDENTS WILL EAT FOR FREE THIS SCHOOL YEAR

Thanks to the efforts of the OHM BOCES School Food Service Team, meals will be FREE to all Sauquoit students for the 2023-2024 School Year! The BOCES Food Service Team operates the Child Nutrition Programs for many of the school districts in the Mohawk Valley, including Sauquoit Valley.

While complete meals, both breakfast and lunch, are FREE, single items like milk will still be charged to student accounts. Milk this year will be $0.75. Other a la carte items such as frozen yogurt, baked chips, and whole grain cookies will be available for purchase most days in the school cafeterias. Prices on those items range from $0.75-$2.00. There is no charging of a la carte items; meaning students must have cash in hand or a positive account balance in order to purchase items a la carte.

Each student has their own meal account with an assigned pin number. Please be sure to help your children learn their numbers; especially if they are new participants. You can also use this account to make payments for a la carte items; checks made out to OHM BOCES Food Service, or online prepayments (ezschoolpay.com) are preferable, though cash in a labeled envelope is also an option. Please consider signing up for an ezschoolpay.com account! This is an excellent way to monitor your child’s meals and a la carte purchases. These accounts are free to set up and use; you can even set up email reminders for when a balance gets low! If you choose to use them for prepayment, a small fee is incurred with each transaction. 

Although meals are FREE to all students this year, we are still requesting families to fill out Free/Reduced meal applications. It is helpful to the district if each household completes the income collection form available at ezmealapp.com. Information submitted through the online app is completely confidential and is not accessible by district staff. PDFs and hard copies are also available. Along with potentially helping the school district with additional funding from New York State, eligible families may also qualify for benefits such as waived fees for SAT exams and Advance Placement exams.

The OHM BOCES School Food Service Team strives to provide students with tasty, nutritious, fresh foods that appeal to students and the school community. We have continually exceeded federal and state guidelines for all required nutrients and increased our offerings of fresh fruit and vegetables. Farm to School items and programming are improving our students’ connections to fresh food and resources. The menu balances student preference, commodity foods, and locally sourced foods that are fresh, fun, and encourage students to explore new flavors and new preparations. 

Should you have questions please reach out to your child’s building principal or you may contact the BOCES Team at 315-738-0848 or Kate Dorr at kdorr@oneida-boces.org.

Our mission is to ensure that each student will become a life-long learner and a responsible citizen in an ever-changing world.