Cafeteria

Rogersville City School child nutrition staff has enjoyed welcoming students back to school! This school year, thanks to federal pandemic waivers, all students will be eligible for free meals, regardless of family income. Please know that we are taking appropriate measures at RCS to ensure school meals are served safely. The return to in-person learning, free meals for students, and serving a large majority of our population, coupled with unprecedented nationwide issues with the supply chain has resulted in a few menu changes with little or no notice.

School meal programs nationwide are experiencing many of the same supply chain issues that have impacted restaurants and grocery stores throughout the pandemic. We are working very closely with our distributors to secure both the food and supplies needed to support our meal program. However, the availability of these items is ever-changing and without notice. When changes to the menu become necessary, we will attempt to substitute the featured menu items, to the extent feasible, based on the products we are able to obtain. We will continue to strive to provide variety in our offerings based on the availability of products.

Thank you for your understanding and patience, as we work through these supply chain issues. Please know we will continue to uphold the utmost quality and preparation of all foods served and will ensure that all students are nourished with healthy meals and ready to learn.

Colby Wagoner

Food Service Director

Rogersville City School District

116 Broadway

Rogersville, TN 37857

423-272-7651

wagonerc@rcschool.net

Free and reduced meal applications are important for our schools for many reasons. Applications may impact how much funding a school receives and determine eligibility for other programs that help support students.

Round 3 P-EBT payments to families have not been scheduled to be mailed yet by the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS). RCS will announce on our Facebook page, as well as our school web page when DHS will be mailing the P-EBT cards.

Qualified families to receive P-EBT cards in mail

Thursday, October 29, 2020 | 03:39pm

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) is extending its successful Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program into the fall semester by sending qualifying families a card they can use to buy food for their student who has been impacted by the pandemic.  Over 500,000 students received benefits to replace school meals lost during the spring. That’s more than half of all public-school children in the state.

Fall semester P-EBT will provide parents with $5.86 in benefits per student for each school day that child missed because of the COVID-19 pandemic in July, August, and September. These benefits can be used to purchase food at any establishment that accepts EBT or online with Amazon and Walmart.

To be eligible, students must receive free or reduced meals at school or attend a Community Eligibility Provision school and they must have missed at least five consecutive days of in person instruction because of school closure or virtual learning.  

TDHS and the Tennessee Department of Education partnered with local school districts to identify students that meet the qualifying criteria and the correct addresses to mail the cards.  The department is now in the process of mailing these cards to families.

 “P-EBT provided families with important support they needed during the summer and we’re excited to partner with schools to extend the program into the fall semester,” said Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Danielle W. Barnes.  “Schools have truly become places families depend upon for nutrition and this program will provide resources to replace those meals while students are taking part in virtual learning. Helping families during this unprecedented time is how we will build a thriving Tennessee.”

For the second round of P-EBT, benefits will be issued on a new card and mailed to the homes of qualifying students.   Funds will not be placed on a family’s existing EBT/P-EBT card.  Families receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) may be eligible for P-EBT during the fall semester.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve states for P-EBT. Approved state agencies may operate P-EBT when a school is closed for at least five consecutive days during a public health emergency designation when the school would otherwise be in session. Tennessee is among the more than 40 states that have received P-EBT approval.

Learn more about the Tennessee Department of Human Services at www.tn.gov/humanservices.

Colby Wagoner

Food Service Director

Rogersville City School District

Great News!!!