TO:                         Parents and Guardians

FROM:                   Danita Taylor, School Nutrition Director

DATE:                    July 1, 2025

RE:                         School Nutrition Information

Welcome to school meals!

Marion County School Nutrition program is pleased to announce that student meals will be at no cost for the 2025-2026 school year!     We also have an After School Snack Program is available to students in an organized after school activity at no cost.

MEALS PROVIDED AT NO COST FOR STUDENTS (ONE MEAL PER STUDENT):

                                Lunch and Breakfast            $0.00 (Students Only)                                           

                             Faculty & Staff Breakfast     $1.50

                             Faculty & Staff Lunch           $3.25                            

                             Visitor Breakfast                   $2.00

                          Visitors Lunch                 $3.75

                             Visitors Holiday Meal         $5.00 (If applicable)  

ALA CARTE AND EXTRAS

Students are not permitted to charge extras. If you want your student to purchase extras, please send cash daily or make prepayments on their lunch account.

PERSONAL CHECKS

Personal checks are accepted for the amount you want in your child/children's account. Checks should be made payable to your school cafeteria. Change cannot be given to the student for other activities.    Checks must have two phone numbers and a physical address or they will be rejected, Payliance collects returned checks for a $50.00 fee.  You may write this information by hand on your check.

ONLINE MEAL PAYMENTS

 Linq Connect (www.LINQCONNECT.com) is an online service that offers you the convenience and information you need to manage your student’s account.  This system could eliminate the need to send checks to school or worry about lost or forgotten money and speed up serving lines in the cafeteria.

At no cost Linq Connect (www.LINQCONNECT.com) allows any family to:

• Check your student’s current account balance.
• Monitor the items your student has been purchasing in the school lunchroom.
• Create settings to receive email notifications when the account reaches a low balance.

For a program fee Ling Connect (www.LINQCONNECT.com) allows any family to:

• Make a prepayment into your student’s account using a check, credit card, or debit card at www.LINQCONNECT.com. 
• Create settings to automatically replenish your student’s account when it reaches a low balance.

 All parents may (even if you do not prepay for your student’s meal account) create an account at no cost through

 Linq Connect ( www.LINQCONNECT.com) or you can find this link on the Marion County Schools website  at www.marionschools.org.  To create a new account, follow the onscreen directions and register your student using his/her  First Name, Last Name, Birth Date and student ID.  You may email dtaylor@mctns.net to request your child(ren)’s student ID.  We will reply quick as possible.

We are looking forward to serving your students!

Danita Taylor         

School Nutrition Director

Marion County Schools

423-942-3434 Ext. 12011

dtaylor@mctns.net

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the State or local Agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

                                                   PUBLIC RELEASE                                                 

This is the public release which will be sent to the agencies listed below:

SENT TO:         News Media: Marion County Tribune                 Date:  8/27/2025             

Unemployment Office: Jasper TN                        Date:   8/27/2025             

: 

Major Employers: Walmart                       Date:   8/27/2025                      

Public Release

Marion County Schools today announced its policy for free and reduced-price meals for children served in schools under the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program. For School Year 2025-2026 Marion County Schools will continue participation in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). No further action is required of you. This USDA provision allows your child(ren) to participate in the school meal programs without having to pay a fee or submit a meal application.

CEP is a key provision of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, which allows schools and school districts in low-income areas to eliminate school meal applications and serve breakfast and lunch at no charge to all enrolled students. CEP gives food service professionals more time to focus on preparing nutritious meals that their students will enjoy and gives students more time to eat those meals by cutting down on time spent in the lunch line. More importantly, by offering all students a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no cost, CEP helps ensure more students come to class well-nourished and ready to learn.

Children need healthy meals to learn. Marion County Schools offers healthy meals every school day. Breakfast and lunch meals will follow the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for healthy school meals, so please encourage students to participate. “In the operation of child feeding programs, no child will be discriminated against because of race, sex, color, national origin, age or disability.”

Parents or guardians who need further information may contact Danita Taylor, School Nutrition Program Director, 423-942-3434 Ext. 12011, dtaylor@mctns.net

In accordance with federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the state or local agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: 

1. Mail: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Room 334 Alexandria, VA 22314; or
2. Email: FNSCIVILRIGHTSCOMPLAINTS@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.