Food Services
General Contact Information
Food Services Director
Martha Jo Fleming
mjfleming@gloucesterschools.com
978-281-9806
Gloucester High Kitchen: 978-281-9876 - Ext.11703
Beeman Kitchen: 978-491-6833 - Ext.23006
East Gloucester: Kitchen: 978-491-6834 - Ext.24002
O'Maley Kitchen: 978-281-9858 - Ext.26314
Veterans Kitchen: 978-491-6837 - Ext.27125
West Parish Kitchen: 978-491-6838 - Ext.28124
Plum Cove Kitchen: 978-491-6839 - Ext.29004
Apply for meal benefits online and make Online Payments: Family Portal
The Mission of the Gloucester School Lunch Program:
Our mission is to actively support and participate in the education and nurturing of the children of the City of Gloucester by consistently providing the highest quality, most flavorful, and nutritionally balanced meals possible.
This will be accomplished by working with administrators, teachers, elected officials, parents, students, and the community at large to achieve the finest program possible.
Menus
Meals, food, and beverages sold or served at schools meet state and federal requirements based on the USDA Dietary Guidelines. All meals, food, and beverages are prepared and served by qualified child nutrition professionals.
We provide students with access to a variety of affordable and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students.
Due to supply chain issues, menus are subject to change without notice
Here is a link to our nutrition labels: MassBuyingGroup.com
Helpful Links and General Information
If your financial circumstances have changed or you are having trouble affording your child's school meals, please click the link to the meal benefit applications. This process is confidential and may actually make other benefits available to you if you qualify. Determinations are made on income and household size. You may apply at any point throughout the school year.
If you have been laid off from your job, do not wait to apply. Your tax dollars fund this benefit. If you have recently brought home a new baby, adopted, or are caring for a foster child, please apply today.
If you are homeless, temporarily or otherwise, we can help put you in touch with the services you may need, including free meal benefits. Please contact Amy Kamm at 978-491-6608.
The schools, in general, benefit from the submission and approval of benefit applications with improved grant funding. If you require assistance filling the form out, please let us know.
Apply for meal benefits online at: Family Portal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act:
The Gloucester Public Schools provides homeless students and unaccompanied youth all of the educational services for which they are eligible, including education programs for students with disabilities, free school meals, English language services, vocational and technical education, gifted and talented services, special education, preschool, and Title I services. Homeless students are entitled to transportation to their school of origin or the school in which they are to be enrolled if required. All user fees are waived for students without a permanent place of residence.
Contact Amy Kamm at 978-491-6608. for more information.
Special Meal Accommodations
If your child has medically documented dietary needs, please contact Jeff Parco, Nurse Leader, at 978-281-9838 or by email at jparco@gloucesterschools.com.
MEAL SUBSTITUTIONS FOR MEDICAL OR SPECIAL DIETARY REASONS
USDA Regulation 7 CFR Part 15b requires substitutions or modifications in school meals for children whose disabilities restrict their diets. A child with a disability must be provided substitutions in foods when that need is supported by a signed statement from a licensed physician.
In Cases of Food Allergy
Generally, children with food allergies or intolerances do not have a disability as defined under either Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or Part B of IDEA, and the school food service may, but is not required to, make food substitutions for them. However, when in the licensed physician’s assessment, food allergies may result in severe, life-threatening (anaphylactic) reactions, the child’s condition would meet the definition of “disability”, and the substitutions prescribed by the licensed physician must be made.
School food service may make food substitutions, at their discretion, for individual children who do not have a disability, but who are medically certified as having a special medical or dietary need. Such determinations are only made on a case-by-case basis. This provision covers those children who have food intolerances or allergies, but do not have life-threatening reactions (anaphylactic reactions) when exposed to the food(s) to which they have problems.
Medical Statement for Children with Special Dietary Needs
Each special dietary request must be supported by a statement explaining the requested food substitution and must be signed by a recognized medical authority. The Medical Statement must include:
An identification of the medical or other special dietary condition which restricts the child’s diet;
The food or foods to be omitted from the child’s diet; and
The food or choice of foods to be substituted.
If we do not receive a medical statement from a recognized medical authority, your child will receive a regular lunch tray. Medical statements completed by parents or guardians will not be accepted.
Non-Discrimination Statement
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.
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 discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027,
USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online
at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form- 0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, 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.