Lunch Menus/Nutrition Services

Holy Spirit Catholic School, St. Francis of Assisi School, St. Pius X School and Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Middle School provide a federally subsidized school nutrition program that is regulated and monitored through the Food and Nutrition Program of the Minnesota Department of Education. Additionally, the Olmsted County Public Health Department inspects each site’s food preparation areas twice per year.

Contact Information

The meal accounting process is a pre-paid system. Lunch payments may be made by check, cash, or on-line via the RCS parent portal. An email notification will be sent when the account balance has been zeroed-out, or may be low. To obtain the daily activity and current balance, logging into The RCS parent portal is a convenient way to view daily activity and make on-line payments. Once logged into the portal, select Resources from the top menu bar and find the School Lunch tile.

All RCS lunch accounts with Blackbaud and EZ School Lunch (our vendors) will be separated into individual accounts instead of family accounts. Each student will have a separate account balance which will need to be maintained separately. If you pay online through the RCS parent portal, you can make a single payment with a single transaction fee for all your students, regardless of what RCS school they attend. You can decide what amount to put in each of the accounts and the payments are automatically routed to the correct school. If you pay by check, please mail it to the RCS central office at 1710 Industrial Drive NW, Rochester, MN 55901. You may need to provide instructions on which student’s account should get what fraction of the deposit. 

To see purchase and payment history on your food service account, log in through the RCS Portal > Resources > School lunch.

Guidelines for Negative Lunch Balance
Students are allowed to charge extra entrees, milk, and a la carte items to their pre-paid account. It is the responsibility of the family to monitor the charges and balance on the account. Once the amount is zeroed out, no a la carte purchases will be allowed until the account is replenished. No student is ever denied lunch. Families are encouraged to apply for free and reduced hot lunches. 

The procedures below will be followed if a negative balance is accrued. 

1. INITIAL PARENT CONTACT: Weekly EZ School Apps emails will be sent out for students whose lunch account balance is negative $0.00 and below. 

2. SECOND NOTIFICATION: A letter will be printed and sent home for students whose lunch account balance reaches a negative value of $20 and below. 

3. THIRD NOTIFICATION: A report will be provided to school building principals for students whose lunch account balance reached a negative balance of $40 or below.

4. FOURTH NOTIFICATION: A phone call will be made to parents of students whose lunch account balance reaches a negative value of $50. During this phone call, we will remind parents to complete the Free and Reduced Priced Lunch Application (FRPL) if they have not already done so. Please note, negative balances accrued will not be waived and payment will still be due if a qualified family is approved for FRPL. Payment plans may be established during this call to address the outstanding balance.

5. LATE MAY: All outstanding balances are due before the end of the school year. Any residual unpaid balance not collected will be added to the outstanding tuition balance due. Any remaining positive balances in lunch accounts will be rolled over to the next year for returning students. Any students not returning, will have their balance refunded to them in the form of a check mailed over the summer.

Policy for Nonsufficient Funds (NSF) Checks
You will be advised, by letter, if a NSF notice is received. The service charge from the bank will be added to the NSF debt. Rochester Catholic Schools will accept cash only for all NSF checks. If the debt is not paid in full within five days, the student’s lunch account will be closed until the balance is paid in full. If not resolved, the debt will be turned over to a collection agency and the collection agency fee will be added to the NSF amount.

Applications for Educational Benefits
Applications for free or reduced priced school meals are available and can be filled out any time throughout the school year. Children can receive free or reduced price school meals if the total household income is within the limits shown in the letter that is with the application for Educational Benefits. Children in households receiving SNAP, MFIP, and FDPIR benefits and foster, homeless, migrant, and runaway children can receive free meals without reporting household income.

Application
 

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 in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

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 complaint of discrimination, a Complainant should complete a form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online, 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.

Special Diet Request Form
This form needs to be completed by your child's physician. It gives Rochester Catholic Schools Nutrition Services direction on appropriate meal substitutions for a child's special diet (e.g. food allergies that result in severe, life-threatening (anaphylactic) reactions).

Food Intolerances Allergies
This form provides guidelines for your child’s classroom and special area classrooms. If your child will be eating school meals and/or taking a beverage and will be needing substitutions due to a food intolerance or allergy, please contact your child's school front office.