Food Service
Free-Reduced Lunch
Free or Reduced Price Meals
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Children need healthy meals to learn. The BRIDGEWATER- RAR REG BOE offers healthy meals every school day at the prices listed below. Your children may qualify for free meals or for reduced price meals.
FULL PRICE | REDUCED PRICE | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elementary | Middle | High | Elementary | Middle | High | |
National School Lunch | $3.25 |
$3.25 |
$3.50 |
$0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
School Breakfast | $1.80 | N/A | $2.60 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
After School Snack | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Special Milk Program | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Split Session Milk Program | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
N/A - Not Applicable |
This packet includes an application for free or reduced price meal benefits, and a set of detailed instructions.
FAQ
Below are some common questions and answers to help you with the application process.
- WHO CAN GET FREE OR REDUCED PRICE MEALS?
- HOW DO I KNOW IF MY CHILDREN QUALIFY AS HOMELESS, MIGRANT, OR RUNAWAY?
- DO I NEED TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION FOR EACH CHILD?
- SHOULD I FILL OUT AN APPLICATION IF I RECEIVED A LETTER THIS SCHOOL YEAR SAYING MY CHILDREN ARE ALREADY APPROVED FOR FREE MEALS?
- CAN I APPLY ONLINE?
- MY CHILD’S APPLICATION WAS APPROVED LAST YEAR. DO I NEED TO FILL OUT A NEW ONE?
- I GET WIC. CAN MY CHILDREN GET FREE MEALS?
- WILL THE INFORMATION I GIVE BE CHECKED?
- IF I DON'T QUALIFY NOW, MAY I APPLY LATER?
- WHAT IF I DISAGREE WITH THE SCHOOL'S DECISION ABOUT MY APPLICATION?
- MAY I APPLY IF SOMEONE IN MY HOUSEHOLD IS NOT A U.S. CITIZEN?
- WHAT IF MY INCOME IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAME?
- WHAT IF SOME HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HAVE NO INCOME TO REPORT?
- WE ARE IN THE MILITARY. DO WE REPORT OUR INCOME DIFFERENTLY?
- WHAT IF THERE ISN'T ENOUGH SPACE ON THE APPLICATION FOR MY FAMILY?
- MY FAMILY NEEDS HELP. ARE THERE ANY PROGRAMS WE MIGHT APPLY FOR?
WHO CAN GET FREE OR REDUCED PRICE MEALS?
- All children in households receiving benefits from NJ SNAP or NJ TANF/WorkFirst-NJ are eligible for free meals.
- Foster children that are under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court are eligible for free meals.
- Children participating in their school’s Head Start program are eligible for free meals.
- Children who meet the definition of homeless, runaway, or migrant are eligible for free meals.
- Children may receive free or reduced price meals if your household’s income is within the limits on the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines. Your children may qualify for free or reduced price meals if your household income falls at or below the limits on this chart.
Federal Income Chart for School Year 2022-2023 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Household Size | Yearly | Monthly | Weekly |
1 | 25,142 | 2,096 | 484 |
2 | 33,874 | 2,823 | 652 |
3 | 42,606 | 3,551 | 820 |
4 | 51,338 | 4,279 | 988 |
5 | 60,070 | 5,006 | 1,156 |
6 | 68,802 | 5,734 | 1,324 |
7 | 77,534 | 6,462 | 1,492 |
8 | 86,266 | 7,189 | 1,659 |
For each additional person, add: | +8,732 | +728 | +168 |
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY CHILDREN QUALIFY AS HOMELESS, MIGRANT, OR RUNAWAY?
Do the members of your household lack a permanent address? Are you staying together in a shelter, hotel, or other temporary housing arrangement? Does your family relocate on a seasonal basis? Are any children living with you who have chosen to leave their prior family or household? If you believe children in your household meet these descriptions and haven’t been told your children will get free meals, please call or e-mail your school, homeless liaison or migrant coordinator.
DO I NEED TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION FOR EACH CHILD?
SHOULD I FILL OUT AN APPLICATION IF I RECEIVED A LETTER THIS SCHOOL YEAR SAYING MY CHILDREN ARE ALREADY APPROVED FOR FREE MEALS?
CAN I APPLY ONLINE?
MY CHILD’S APPLICATION WAS APPROVED LAST YEAR. DO I NEED TO FILL OUT A NEW ONE?
I GET WIC. CAN MY CHILDREN GET FREE MEALS?
WILL THE INFORMATION I GIVE BE CHECKED?
IF I DON'T QUALIFY NOW, MAY I APPLY LATER?
WHAT IF I DISAGREE WITH THE SCHOOL'S DECISION ABOUT MY APPLICATION?
MAY I APPLY IF SOMEONE IN MY HOUSEHOLD IS NOT A U.S. CITIZEN?
WHAT IF MY INCOME IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAME?
List the amount that you normally receive. For example, if you normally make $1000 each month, but you missed some work last month and only made $900, put down that you made $1000 per month. If you normally get overtime, include it, but do not include it if you only work overtime sometimes. If you have lost a job or had your hours or wages reduced, use your current income.
WHAT IF SOME HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HAVE NO INCOME TO REPORT?
Household members may not receive some types of income we ask you to report on the application, or may not receive income at all. Whenever this happens, please write a 0 in the field. However, if any income fields are left empty or blank, those will also be counted as zeroes. Please be careful when leaving income fields blank, as we will assume you meant to do so.
WE ARE IN THE MILITARY. DO WE REPORT OUR INCOME DIFFERENTLY?
Your basic pay and cash bonuses must be reported as income. If you get any cash value allowances for off-base housing, food, or clothing, or receive Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance payments, it must also be included as income. However, if your housing is part of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, do not include your housing allowance as income. Any additional combat pay resulting from deployment is also excluded from income.
WHAT IF THERE ISN'T ENOUGH SPACE ON THE APPLICATION FOR MY FAMILY?
MY FAMILY NEEDS HELP. ARE THERE ANY PROGRAMS WE MIGHT APPLY FOR?
To find out how to apply for NJ SNAP or other assistance benefits, contact your local assistance office, call 1-800-687-9512 or go to https://oneapp.dhs.state.nj.us/default.aspx.
You can also contact NJ Family Care or Medicaid at 1-800-701-0710 or www.njfamilycare.org for information regarding health insurance for your family.
For the WIC Program, call 1-800-328-3838 or go to www.nj.gov/health/fhs/wic.
If you have other questions or need help, call (908)685-2777 Ext:937701
Sincerely,
Peter Starrs
Business Administrator
MyPaymentsPlus
MyPaymentsPlus is an innovative tool that allows any parent to:
- Log-in at www.mypaymentsplus.com at no cost to check student’s meal account balances and monitor the food items your student purchases at school
- Create settings to automatically replenish your account or receive a notification email when the balance is low.
- Deposit funds directly into your student’s meal accounts using credit card or debit card! A convenience fee will be charged, and funds will usually be available for student use at school within a matter of minutes.
It is of utmost importance that schools and parents partner to guide our student’s health choices, and MyPaymentsPlus provides a way to do that. We strongly encourage all parents (even if you do not prepay for your student’s meal account) to create an account, at no cost, through www.mypaymentsplus.com and remain involved in your student’s nutritional decisions.
For those who do wish to prepay into their student’s meal account, MyPaymentsPlus offers a convenient way to do so. This convenient system eliminates the need to send checks to school or worry about lost or forgotten lunch money, and speeds up serving lines in the cafeteria.
To register online, visit MyPaymentsPlus, and click on the ‘Register’ tab on the left side of the screen. To register, you will need to have the school Student ID number assigned to your child. The MyPaymentsPlus system makes security a priority, and basically utilizes the same security methods used by online banking services today.
If you have payment processing questions or concerns, you can call 877-237-0946 between the hours of 9:00 - 6:00 EST. Parents can also send emails to Support@MyPaymentsPlus.com.