Cafeterias at each of our schools provide hot and nutritious breakfasts and lunches to our students.
Some students enjoy our meals so much that they ask their parents or guardians to request the recipes so that they can serve these meals during vacation and school breaks.
One student writes, "The food is great! They let you have different choices in the cafeteria, but we call it our restaurant."
Students in elementary school can choose between two entrees at lunch. Middle and high school students select from a range of menu stations.
We know that children need a healthy breakfast and lunch in order to have energy for learning. Food services staff takes pride and joy in ensureing that all children receive a nutritious and tasty meal at school. In the 2020-2021 school year, 60 of our schools will be participating in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) which provides free meals to all students at that school.
TUSD Meal Charge Policy
Due to the large amount of unpaid meal account balances, the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board voted on February 11, 2020, to approve changes to the district meal charge policy effective Monday, March 2, 2020.
The unlimited meal charge has been changed as follows when funds are not available at meal time:
- For Grades K-8 - a limit of 2 meals (all menu options) will be charged to the meal account, after that the student will receive an alternate meal charged to the meal account.
2019-2020 meal prices:
- K-8 reduced price breakfast $0.25, reduced price lunch $0.40
- K-5 breakfast $1.25, lunch $2.30
- 6-8 breakfast $1.50, lunch $2.80
Alternate Meal at Breakfast: bagel, fruit and milk
Alternate Meal at Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, fruit, vegetable, and milk
- For High School– if funds are not available at meal time, an alternate option will be offered and charged to the meal account.
Alternate option for both Breakfast and Lunch: cheese stick and fruit ($0.50)
We will continue to notify families of unpaid balances through email, phone calls and letters.
If you believe that your family is eligible for free or reduced meals please complete the online meal benefit application at: https://mealapp.tusd1.org/ Or call the Food Services Department at 520-225-4700 to complete the application over the phone.
How You Can Help
Tucson Unified has created a Together Every Kid Eats portal where members of the community can donate money to help feed children. These funds are used to provide students with seamless service and a reimbursable meal following USDA guidelines when students' meal accounts are empty. Food Services will work with families to bring the meal accounts to a positive balance without overt identification. For more information, see the Together Every Kid Eats webpage.