Parents and Families of Vidalia High School:

As you are aware, schools have been able to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to Students during the last two school years. This was made possible thanks to the generous support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture reimbursing schools for meals served to students, regardless of their income. At this time, there is no plan for this support from the USDA to continue in the coming school year. Vidalia High School will be going back to applications at Vidalia High School for the school year 2022-2023.

Because all USDA waivers ended on June 30, 2022, Vidalia City Schools Nutrition Services Program (VCSNP) urges all parents/guardians of students at Vidalia High School (VHS) to act over the next several weeks to ensure their students continue to receive a free or reduced lunch for the year 2022-2023 at Vidalia High School!!

If your child’s status was free before the pandemic or your child is coming to the high school from Trippe, you will have 30 days grace period (September 19th) to get the application back to VHS School Nutrition Program. At this time, if we do not have your child’s application, their status will be changed to full paid by our Meals Plus system.

J.D. Dickerson, Sally D Meadows and J.R. Trippe will continue to be Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which means that all students eat free at these schools.

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to enrolled students. Schools that adopt the CEP program will be reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students that are categorically eligible for receiving free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs. Examples of such programs are the SNAP Program and TANF program.

Vidalia High School does not qualify for CEP because of the low numbers of students in the means tested programs of SNAP or TANF! There will be three (3) ways for you to fill out Free Application Reduced applications this year:

• Submit Online application at lunchapplication.com . You will need your child’s student number for this. This is on our district website and VHS website.

• Paper packet from VHS that the students get in their first of the year packet. This packet will be gold. It has all instructions. NOTE: If you have a paper application and want to refuse benefits, please put your child’s first and last name on the application and write REFUSED across the front and send to school. This will help to make sure you don’t get a lot of phone calls or emails from us.

• Print paper copy at home from our district website https://vidaliacity.schoolinsites.com on white paper. Fill it out and send this copy to the lunch cafeteria.

We cannot process applications that are not completed!! Incomplete applications delay your child/children getting free and reduced meals.

Call our direct phone line at 912-537-9738 and speak to Denise Parson (Ext 1) or Tina Wheeler (Ext 2) with any questions that you might have!! We are more than happy to answer them!

If you call Central Office, these are our extensions: Denise 912-537—3088 Ext 2017

Tina 912-537-3088 Ext. 2016

The entire staff at Vidalia High School is looking forward to supporting your child in the coming school year.

Press release issued by Vidalia City Schools.