Nutrition Policy

The District believes that a student's health impacts his/her school attendance, readiness to learn, potential learning, and achievement. Therefore, the District's goal is to provide a sound, comprehensive wellness program of nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-based activities that are designated to promote student wellness. The program includes the following:

1. Teaching, encouraging, and supporting healthy eating by students (the schools will provide nutrition education based on the S.C. standards);

2. Providing students with the recommended amount of daily physical activity as required by law and encouraging students to fully embrace regular physical activity as a personal behavior because students need opportunities for physical activity beyond physical education classes (the principal of each school is responsible for ensuring compliance at his/her school);

3. Supporting parents' efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children (the schools will provide a monthly calendar of school meals);

4. Disseminating nutrition guidelines, approved by the Superintendent or his/her designee, for all foods available on each school campus during the school day with the objectives of promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity;

5. Establishing a plan for measuring implementation of the student wellness policy, which is the responsibility of the Chief Officer of Support Services or his/her designee;

6. Complying with the nutritional part of the wellness policy and the District's nutrition guidelines, which is the responsibility of the principal of each school; and

7. Complying with applicable federal and state laws and regulations.

In addition, a committee of community members shall be involved in the development and review of the District's wellness policy and the guidelines established by the District for its implementation. The committee shall consist of, but not be limited to, members of the following groups: parents, students, the Board, school administrators, school food service authorities, and other members of the public.

If you have this information handy, it will make the application process fast and easy.

- If you participate in a federal or your state assistance program such as SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR, you will need to know your case number (not your card or account number)
- If you do not participate in any of the above assistance programs, you will need to report your total household income. In that case...

- if anyone in your household has a job, you may need to reference the earnings statement or pay stubs to report your gross income, which is different that the amount you actually receive in your paycheck.
- if anyone receives Social Security or retirement benefits, you may need to gather the benefit statements to report the amount and frequency of the payments.
- you may also need to reference other financial documents for additional sources of income.

Still not sure if you have everything you need? Don't worry! The Help link on the income section of the application contains detailed instructions and explanations about the sources of income you must include, and you can gather additional information then.

Paying for Meals

• There are several payment options available to purchase meals at school. Paying in advance ensures that your child does not have to keep up with lunch money. You can pre-pay online by creating an account at www.myschoolbucks.com. You will need your child’s student ID number and date of birth to establish an account. You can obtain your child's student ID number from your parent powerschool account. Download the HCS mobile app to your smartphone so you can monitor your child’s account at any time. 

  If a student does not have lunch money, he or she may charge up to $20 (twenty dollars). Parents will be notified by phone and/or letter to send payment. If parents refuse to pay for meals, students may be provided a courtesy meal which will consist of a sandwich and beverage. If family circumstances change during the year making it difficult to pay for meals at school, parents may apply for free or reduced-priced meals at any time.