Business Office
25 Valley Road, 2nd Floor
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 806-4205
Free and Reduced Lunch Program Contact:
April Taylor, 609-806-4210
FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH PROGRAM APPLICATION:
FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Princeton Regional Schools participates in NJ Department of Agriculture’s School Lunch Program at its elementary schools. The middle school and high school are participating in a pilot project with the district’s food service company, Chartwells, to provide a greater variety of food purchased outside the state program while still offering free and reduced price lunches to eligible students.
Who is eligible for free or reduced priced lunches?
Your children may qualify for free or reduced price meals if your household income falls within the limits on this chart.
What is the National School Lunch Program?
The National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751) was first passed in 1946. It created a national school lunch program; however, it was not until 1966 that Congress made an annual appropriation of funding for schools to provide free and reduced price lunches to eligible students who were unable to pay the full cost of lunch.
The National School Lunch Act states that it is in the interest of national security to “safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture administers the program and provides states with general and special cash assistance and donations of foods purchased by the federal government so that schools will be able to serve nutritious lunches to children each school day. In New Jersey, the NJ Department of Agriculture administers this program. Schools, like the Princeton Regional Schools, must agree to the following requirements in order to receive funds:
- Serve lunches meeting the minimum nutritional requirements.
- Serve meals without cost or at reduced cost to children who were determined to be unable to pay the full cost of the lunch and not to segregate or discriminate against such children in any way.
- Operate the program on a nonprofit basis.
- Use whenever practical the commodities donated by the federal government.
- Maintain proper records of all receipts and expenditures and submit reports to the state agency as required.
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