CLAY COUNTY – In order for a student to receive free or reduced meals for the upcoming school year, parents need to complete an application. A new one must be completed for the new school year. Paper and online applications can are on the school district’s website at oneclay.net/foodandnutrition.

The reduced price for lunch is $.40, and breakfast is $.30. Regular meal prices for the school year are $2.50 for elementary students and $2.75 for secondary. Breakfast for all grades costs $1.75.

Children attending a Community Eligibility Provision school will not need to fill out a Free and Reduced Application. Each CEP school will provide both breakfast and lunch free of charge with no application process. A free and reduced-price meal application must be completed to receive benefits if a child attends a non-CEP school. Households with multiple children attending a CEP school and a non-CEP school must complete an application. Because the number of household members is an eligibility qualification, both children must be listed on the application.

The following schools will be participating in CEP for the 2023-2024 school year: AMI Kids, Bannerman Learning Center, Charles E. Bennett Elementary, Coppergate Elementary, Clay Hill Elementary, Doctors Inlet Elementary, Grove Park Elementary, Keystone Heights Elementary, Keystone Heights High, Lakeside Elementary,  McRae Elementary, Middleburg Elementary, Montclair Elementary, Orange Park High School, Orange Park Junior High, Ridgeview Elementary, S. Bryan Jennings Elementary, W.E. Cherry Elementary, Wilkinson Elementary and Wilkinson Junior High.

Household size and income criteria will be used to determine eligibility. An application can’t be approved unless it contains complete eligibility information. Once approved, meal benefits are good for the entire year, and a parent doesn’t need to make changes to income and household size. If a student’s application has previously been denied or approved and a household member becomes unemployed or if the household size changes, please get in touch with the Food and Nutrition Services Department.

Foster children will receive free benefits regardless of the child’s income or the income of the household.

Information needed for the application includes total gross household income, including wages and child support; names of household members; names of students attending other schools; signatures of adults in household; and the last four digits of each adult’s social security number.