Food & Nutrition Services

Competitive Foods Statement (A La Carte)

• Competitive foods that provide little or no nutritional value will not be sold in the breakfast or lunch programs at L'Anse Creuse. Nutritious snack items will be offered whenever adequate customer acceptance is indicated.
• Competitive foods may be sold in the elementary schools on a limited basis. Care will used in the offerings and students will not be allowed to eat only cookies and ice cream.
• Middle school students will be offered a slightly expanded a la carte offering. Food service personnel will monitor that foods with no redeeming food value are not offered.
• High school students will be provided a further expanded a la carte offering and again, foods with no nutritional content will be excluded.

Food and Supply Purchasing Policies

• Whenever possible, specific food service related items will be purchased in bulk form, from individual suppliers on a three bid process and/or by District, County, or Consortium entities. Presently the Food Service Department is a member of the H.P.S. purchasing group.
• Specifications shall be required that will insure that the General Goals Statements are able to be accomplished.
• Service standards and specific customer preferences are to be considered when awarding bids and placing orders with vendors. However, whenever possible the lowest cost and/or higher participation, not the lowest price, should affect the purchasing decision.

General Goals

• To participate in the National School Breakfast and Lunch programs, and to provide a quality Food Service operation for those students and adult customers who wish to participate.
• To provide healthful and nutritious food products to all customers and to develop other services that might be beneficial to the meal programs or to the L'Anse Creuse District.
• To operate with-in a balanced budget that will produce sufficient revenues which will cover expenses, including renovations not included in bond issues. If necessary, the Board will have the responsibility of making up unforeseen deficits.
• To adhere to all state, county, and local regulations concerning food operations including the Macomb County Health Department and the State Fire Marshall's office.
• To follow USDA regulations outlined in the National School Lunch Act and its amendments.
• To maintain all required documents and files, and to report to the program administrator on a regular basis.

Nutritional Foods Statement (Breakfast & Lunch Meal Offerings)

• All student pattern breakfasts and lunches will meet the USDA guidelines for nutrition, which is generally one-third of the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowances).
• That processed foods which are high in sugar, sodium, and other additives be evaluated by the Food Service Supervisor and those foods found to have excess amounts of these items, be limited in their use in the menu pattern. In some instances schools may limit their availability to the student customer.

Pricing Policies

• All pricing will reflect the balanced budget goal statement.
• All a la carte, special function, catering, and extra entree pricing will be based on a cost plus factor.
• Extra entree will be priced at a level high enough to ensure that the type "A" meal (the pattern meal) is the best value for our student customers. This also ensures that the L'Anse Creuse student is purchasing a total meal with all of the nutritional value available.
• Bulk sales to staff will be directed by the Food Service Supervisor. The pricing will be at a cost plus 5% to ensure that employees do not personally and financially benefit from the program (Federal Regulation) or from our vendors.

 Use of Kitchen Facilities (by the School Community & Outside Groups)

• These procedures will be adhered to when school kitchen facilities are used outside of the regular meals program. This is required to provide for security of equipment, supplies and spaces; and to ensure the safety of personnel using equipment and spaces.
• The use of school kitchen facilities and equipment will only be granted with prior approval through the school's principal.
• Equipment may be used providing a food service employee is present to supervise and assist in proper operation of such equipment.
• Refuse and unused foods and supplies will be removed by the group using the kitchen. Temporary storage of materials will be for a specified duration. All work spaces shall be cleaned as they were found.
• Equipment failure or damage to equipment and spaces will be reported to the custodian immediately. The custodian will make a report to the building administrator, who will report same to the Food Service Supervisor no later than 9:00 a.m. the following work day.
• Limited use of kitchen facilities, for making tea or coffee and service from group-owned utensils when a building administrator is present, may be granted by the building administrator. This will be limited to filling and sink cleaning containers and utensils only.

Failure to adhere to these regulations, willful neglect of posted safety precautions or intentional damage or misuse of equipment or spaces will result in a recommendation for the loss of kitchen use privileges and/or assessment of charges necessary to correct damages.

The L'Anse Creuse Public Schools' Board of Education has mandated that educational monies shall not be spent in support of a District wide meal program. We therefore must operate the Department on a "break-even" status. While we may earn a profit in some years, in others we may lose money and those losses must be repaid to the District's General Fund.

Each month the Department produces a detailed Fund Balance Report (profit and loss) statement for each individual school to assist in evaluation and in planning. This helps to insure that goals are consistently being met.

Introduction to the Food Service Program

The school meals program was authorized under the National School Lunch Program Act which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Truman in 1946. The Michigan Legislature and the Governor mandated the National School Breakfast Program for Michigan's public schools in 1988.

The Program is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the National Level and the Michigan Department of Education's, School Management Services, Food and Nutrition Services have the responsibility at the state level.

L'Anse Creuse Public Schools receives Federal and State money to assist in the offering of services to it's students. These funds are used to help purchase the food and supplies that are consumed by the programs' customers and the District then agrees to comply with the regulations set up by congress. One of the most important regulations is the Nutritional Guideline regulation which dictates the Breakfast and Lunch nutritional content.

The Food Service Department maintains affiliations with several associations that benefit School Food Service management and child nutrition. 

School Nutrition Association of Michigan (SNAM) is the state affiliate of the School Nutrition Association (SNA), a non-profit professional association representing 60,000 members involved in the school food service industry. SNAM represents over 1,600 food service personnel in Michigan. Membership in both organizations is open to persons engaged in school food service or related activities in public, non-public schools, and colleges and universities.

The Michigan School Business Officials Association (MSBO) also has a very active Food Service Program and Research Committee which assists the Association in its child nutrition responsibilities. The Food Service Committee provides the resources for "Peer Review" activities when requested by member local school districts.

Fall 2017

Dear Parent/Guardian:

L’Anse Creuse Public Schools (LCPS) is committed to providing your student with an exceptional education which includes healthy, high-quality school breakfasts and lunches. To help you better understand our Meal Charge Policy we have outlined the important facts below.

The purpose of this policy is to provide consistent meal charge procedures for all students at LCPS. We recognize the importance of children eating a healthy meal and the time it takes to prepare those meals. In an effort to assist our parents and guardians with this responsibility, we provide both breakfast and lunch in accordance with the USDA Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act 2010 (HHFKA). 

Meal Accounts:  Parents/guardians are encouraged to make meal payments in advance.  Personal checks and cash are accepted daily and student accounts can be monitored by establishing an account at www.familyportal.cloud

Meal Charging:  Meal charging is designed to cover a situation in which parents forget to send or deposit money for breakfast or lunch. No alternate meals or a la carte items are allowed to be charged. School messenger reminders of negative balances will be called, emailed and/or texted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you are not receiving the calls, please contact your school office to update your contact information.  Payment of breakfast and/or lunches will be expected within two days of the charge.  

Meal Benefits:  Households may apply for free/reduced priced meals anytime throughout the school year, but must reapply at the start of each school year. You can obtain an application at your school or apply online at www.familyportal.cloud. If you have questions or need assistance you can contact the Food and Nutrition Services office at (586) 783-6550. 

Bad Debt:  L’Anse Creuse will ensure that all students receive a standard meal, including those students who do not have sufficient funds in their account or in hand to cover the cost of their full meal at the time of service.

• L`Anse Creuse does not require students who cannot pay for a school meal or who owe a negative balance to wear a wristband or hand stamp.
• L`Anse Creuse does not require students who cannot pay for a school meal or who owe a negative balance to perform chores or other work to pay for school meals.
• L`Anse Creuse does not require students to dispose of a meal after it has been served because the student is unable to pay for the meal or has a negative balance.
• L`Anse Creuse prohibits direct communication with a student about a negative balance unless it has unsuccessfully attempted to contact the student's parent or legal guardian first through telephone, mail, and electronic mail.
• L`Anse Creuse prohibits discussing a negative balance with a student in the presence of other students.

Students may not charge a la carte items, only a complete lunch. Debts incurred by the inability to collect meal payment from students will be pursued by the District in an effort to recover the debt incurred. The Superintendent is authorized to further define and implement meal charging and debt collection procedures.  These procedures will provide consistent directions for families.  Please note that negative balances carry over from year to year and stay on the student’s lunch account until they graduate and are expected to be paid off.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Here’s to a happy and healthy start to this school year!

Sincerely,
LCPS Food & Nutrition Services

The Department maintains the ultimate in sanitation and safety practices each and every day. As Food Service Professionals, our greatest fear is that we might cause one of our valued customers to become ill. School Food Service operations in Macomb County lead the nation by developing a workable procedure manual for all food operations to implement the newest in food safety technology which is called H.A.C.C.P. or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. This system monitors each "at risk" food item and at every point in the food chain that contamination could possible occur, temperature is taken and it is logged into a journal.

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 (including gender identity and sexual orientation), 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: 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.