Food Services

The GJSD Food Services Department is committed to serving students nutritious meals in a welcoming environment.

• Cafeteria Menus
• Free School Meals
• LINQ Connect Information
• Breakfast is Available
• Meal Charging and Prohibition Against Meal Shaming
• Meal Modification Statement/Notification
• Summer Food
• Food Assistance Resources
• Local Food Pantries
• SNAP
• Nondiscrimination Statement
• Public Announcement for School Meals Special Provision Options (Provision 2 Non-Base Year & Community Eligibility Provision)

Cafeteria Menus

If you have difficulty accessing the above menus, please send an email to the Communications Office.

Free School Meals

Parent Letter 2025-26

All Greater Johnstown School District students are eligible to receive FREE school meals (1 breakfast and 1 lunch per day), regardless of family income, through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

No application is required; however, families should complete this Household Income Eligibility Form (HHIE). The data gathered from this form can qualify students for additional benefits and allows the district to receive additional state and federal funding. The online form only requires an income range and is confidential.

For questions about the HHIE form, please email Senior Shared Food Service Program Specialist Susan Frank or call (518) 464-5133.

LINQ Connect Information

Students will continue to have individual school meal accounts on LINQ Connect.

Parents/Guardians can manage the accounts and add funds for additional meals and snacks not included in the free breakfasts and lunches. Online deposits can be added to LINQ Connect here or checks can be made payable to Greater Johnstown School District, Food Service Program.

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Breakfast is Available

Breakfast is served every school day as follows:

• Pleasant Avenue: 7:30 – 7:45 a.m.
• Warren Street: 7:30 – 7:45 a.m.
• Knox Junior High: 7:15 – 7:45 a.m.
• Johnstown High School: 7:15 – 7:40 a.m.

Research shows that children who eat breakfast:

• show improvement on math, reading and standardized test scores
• establish healthier habits for later in life
• have fewer absences and incidences of tardiness
• are more likely to behave better in school
• consume more calcium, fiber, foliate and protein

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Meal Charging and Prohibition Against Meal Shaming

Districts participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program must adopt a policy addressing meal charging and prohibiting meal shaming.

It is the District’s goal to provide students with access to nutritious no- or low-cost meals each school day and to ensure that a student whose parent/guardian has unpaid meal charges is not shamed or treated differently than a student whose parent/guardian does not have unpaid meal charges.

Unpaid meal charges place a large financial burden on the District. The purpose of this policy is to ensure compliance with federal requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program and to provide oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances to ensure that the student is not stigmatized, distressed, or embarrassed.

The intent of this policy is to establish procedures to address unpaid meal charges throughout the District in a way that does not stigmatize, distress, or embarrass students. The provisions of this policy pertain to regular priced reimbursable school breakfast, lunch and snack meals only. Charging of items outside of the reimbursable meals (a la carte items, adult meals, etc.) is expressly prohibited.

View Board Policy #5660 – Meal Charging and Prohibition Against Meal Shaming

View Board Policy #5600 Wellness

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Meal Modification Statement/Notification

Meal Service to Children with Disabilities

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) aim to provide all participating children, regardless of background, with the nutritious meals they need to be healthy. This includes ensuring children with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from the NSLP and SBP.
Federal regulations require schools and institutions to serve meals at no extra charge to those children whose disability restricts their diet in such a way that they cannot fully participate in the food service program without some modification to the foods offered or the scheduled menu. If you believe your child needs substitutions because of a disability, please get in touch with us for further information. You must request meal modifications from the school and provide the school with a medical statement from a State licensed healthcare professional. This medical statement must contain but is not limited to the following:

• Information about the child’s physical or mental impairment that is sufficient to allow the school to understand how it restricts the child’s diet,
• An explanation of what must be done to accommodate the child’s special dietary need,
• The food or foods to be omitted and recommended alternatives, in the case of a modified meal

If you have questions regarding the need for meal modifications, contact Simone Lafrance Bodman, Food Service Director at 518-948-1831 for further information.

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Summer Food

Nutritious free meals are available for children and teens 18 and younger at many locations throughout the nation throughout the summer while school is out of session. Please visit the USDA website to find a location near you, or text “Summer Meals” to 97779 or call 1-866-348-6479 to find a site nearby.

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Food Assistance Resources

Local Food Pantries

A database of local food pantries and meal assistance programs can be found here.

SNAP

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federally funded program that provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being. Monthly benefits can be used to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets, and other locations. SNAP helps families stretch their food budget so kids can get the nutrition they need to learn and grow. To see if you are eligible and to apply for SNAP online, visit the USDA’s website.

The Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) offers one-on-one help applying for SNAP. NOEP can tell you if you may be eligible for SNAP, answer questions, and help with your application. It’s free and confidential. Find a NOEP Coordinator near you at FoodHelpNY.org.

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Nondiscrimination Statement

This explains what to do if you believe you have been treated unfairly.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the state or local agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027(link is external), found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

1. Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
2. Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
3. Email: program.intake@usda.gov(link sends e-mail).

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

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