Food and Culinary Services - Franklin Special School District (2024)

FSSD Food and Culinary Services program strives to add funding to its cafeteria services through grants and awards. Here are a few that we have recently been awarded:

• Healthy Meals Incentive Grant:

  in 2023, FSSDwas awarded a Healthy Meals Incentives grant for $130,000 from Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) to support its efforts to feed students with healthy meals cooked from scratch in a multi-year effort to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. The Healthy Meals Incentives grant is part of a nationwide allocation to schools by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

  The funds will bolster staff culinary skills, upgrade kitchen utensils and equipment, and purchase a refrigerated van to pick up and deliver locally grown ingredients. As part of the Healthy Meals Incentives grant program, AFHK and its partners will provide FSSD with in-depth individualized technical assistance to support and guide the implementation of key strategies to improve school meal quality, as well as help the district to develop creative solutions to provide nutritious foods for the children we serve.

• Local Foods/Farm to School Grant:

  Beginning January 2024, the Franklin Special School District (FSSD) schools beganserving grass-fed beef hamburgers sourced from Tennessee Grass Fed, a USDA-certified farm located in Clarksville. This new offering is part of the district's commitment to providing healthy, high-quality meals to its students.

  Tennessee Grass Fed is known for its dedication to free grazing and its production of all-natural Angus beef products that are lower in fat and calories and higher in omega-3 fatty acids. By partnering with Tennessee Grass Fed, FSSD aims to offer nutritious and delicious meal options that support the health and well-being of its students.

  This upgrade in the school lunch program is made possible through the USDA Local Foods for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. This program is designed to strengthen the food system for schools by supporting local and regional food producers and processors. By participating in this program, FSSD is not only providing its students with healthier meal choices but also contributing to the development of a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain.

  See Also

  Handbook - MOORE ELEMENTARYMorning and Afternoon Care (MAC) - MOORE ELEMENTARYRestaurant | Greens in the ParkHandbook - Freedom Middle

• Bulk Milk Pilot Program:
  In January 2024,FSSD began a pilot program to offerbulk milk dispensers. The first machines were first placed atFreedom Middle and Freedom Intermediate School, with installation at Liberty Elementary following. According to the Chef Ann Foundation, bulk milk greatly reduces the amount of waste produced by lunchrooms, and also encourages kids to consume more milk since the dispensers have better temperature retention than the individually packaged cartons, meaning the milk remains icy cold and more appealing. If all goes well, these will be in every school next year.
  
• Southeast Manager of the Year: In 2023 Chantel Parker, of Moore Elementary School, was named Southeast Regional Manager of the Year.
  
• Winston Foodservice Grant:In 2019, FCS was awarded a $50,000 grantto purchase kitchen equipment. This grant enabledFCS to orderfourWinston Retherm Ovens, three holding cabinets and four pass-through warming units for our school cafeterias. Using a retherm oven, cafeteria staff can cook food ahead of time, then chill or freeze it until it’s needed. The oven reheats it quickly for large mass consumption.
  

• Dairy Alliance Grant: In 2020, FCS was awarded $1,200 to purchaseblenders for the school cafeterias.

• The Tennessee Titans and The Dairy Alliance: In 2019,Freedom Middle Schoolwas awarded a $10,000grantas part of the NFL Fuel Up to Play 60 Hometown Grant.Money was used to purchase materials and resources for programs to further educate students on healthy eating and physical activity.

• Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award:In November 2020, FCS SupervisorRobbin Cross, was named one of two state finalists for the Tennessee RISEaward, announced recently by the Tennessee Department of Education.The RISE awardwas created by Congress in 2019 and is overseen by the U.S. Department of Education to honor classified school employees, such as administrative, food and nutrition, health and student service, transportation, or custodial staff, who provide exemplary service to students and their communities. Read more here.

• No Kid Hungry Grants: In Spring 2019, FCS received a $20,000 grant to purchase breakfast carts, point-of-sale systems, and other items to increase breakfast participation in four FSSD schools. No Kid Hungry/Share Our Strength also funded an internship programthatinvolved college-aged Youth Ambassadors in the fight against childhood hunger by working with one of the No Kid Hungry community partners. For two years (2022 and 2023), Franklin Special School District hosteda Youth Ambassadortoworkon initiatives related to the alleviation of childhood hunger over the summer months.

• School Nutrition Foundation Grant: In Spring2020, the FSSD FCS programreceived a $2,500 grant to purchase insulated bags, which are used to keep our food hot and/orcold during emergency feeding situations.

• Chef Ann Foundation Grant Recipient:FSSD Food and Culinary Services was one of five school cafeteria programs selected in 2020 as a recipient of the Chef Ann Foundation, Get Schools Cooking Grant.The Foundation has reached over 3 million children across the country, providing tools that help schools serve children healthy and delicious scratch-cooked meals made with fresh, whole ingredients. Ann Cooper, the founder, is an internationally recognized author, chef, educator, public speaker, and advocate for healthy food for all children. This 3-year grant helped provide our program with the operational foundation to transition from a heat-and-serve model to a program that is rooted in scratch cooking.

The FSSD offers free or reduced prices to eligible children as set forth by the U.S. Department of Education.

• Information and FAQs about the National School Lunch Program
• Online Application: Free and reduced applications must be completed through your Skyward Family Access account. Once in your family account, please select the Food Service tabin the left-hand column. Then select Applications at the top of the screen. Choose Add Application in the pop-up window. If you have trouble logging in, please contact the Food and Culinary Services Office at 615-794-6624 or your school office.

Please contact your school office if you do not remember your Skyward Family Access login information.

The USDA’sEligibility Manual for School Mealscontains information on federal requirements for determining and verifying eligibility for free and reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. The manualalso includesinformation describing to whom andunder what conditionsinformation regarding free and reduced eligibility status may be disclosed (pp. 83-93).

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 Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at:https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.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.

If your student withdraws from the district, please print out and complete the form below. You may transfer the balances to other FSSD schools, donate the amount to a student assistance account, or request a full refund.

• Meal Account Refund Request

Nutritious meals improve students’ cognitive function, test scores and attention spans. With a nutritious breakfast and lunch, student behavior and attention spans improve, and they have fewer absences and office referrals.In FSSD, we have families who struggleto pay their children’s cafeteria balances. This fund is used throughout the year to assist families in need. We want students to come to school without the worry of debt.

You Can Help!
There are several options to make a donation:

• Online: Click the DONATE NOW link belowto make an online donation;
• Check: To donate by check, make it out to FSSD Food and Culinary Services with Lunch Debt Donation in the memo field. Mail checks to FSSD Food and Culinary Services, 507 New Highway 96 West, Franklin, TN 37064;
• Transfer: You can transfer money that is already in a student account to other students with negative balances. To do this, email Food and Culinary Services Operations Coordinator Marne Price at pricemar@fssd.org with your child’s name (so the correct account can be accessed) and how much you would like to transfer.

Thank you!

$50 = 13lunches or 18breakfasts
$100 = 26lunches or 36breakfasts
$500 = 133lunches or 181 breakfasts

Donate now