• Parent/Caregiver Help Page

    My scholar has allergies that their school needs to know about. Who should I contact?

    A top priority for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is the safety and well-being of our scholars. School Nutrition plays a special role in this by ensuring all students can safely eat, especially ones with dietary needs. Our District Dietitian works directly with schools and families to help scholars with special diets eat safely at CMSD. To learn more about this and to be directed to proper forms, please visit our Special Diets information page here.

    I'm unable to pack a meal for my scholar. Do I need to give them money to eat at school?

    Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a universal meal plan that permits eligible districts and schools to provide breakfast and lunch meals to all scholars at no charge, regardless of economic status. Therefore, there are no free or reduced meal applications that you need to complete or keep track of. Your scholar has access to a free nutritious breakfast and lunch every day at school. To learn more about CEP, please visit our CEP information page here.

    Why does the food being served not match up with what's recorded on the menu?

    As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, CMSD School Nutrition is facing unprecedented supply chain disruptions that have caused our operations to shift with little to no notice. We are working with our distributors and manufacturers to secure both the food and supply items needed to support our program, but the availability of these items changes daily. This includes both food supplies and serving supplies, such as trays.

    While it is our intention to serve the posted menu and maintain operations as close as possible to normal, we will continue to have disruptions throughout the school year until these issues are resolved. When changes become necessary, we will attempt to substitute an item with another item that is as similar as possible, to the extent we are able to do so, based on the products we are able to receive. Regardless of the substitutes, we will continue to serve all students healthy, nourishing meals.

    I need to speak to someone in School Nutrition, but I'm not too sure who to contact. What should I do?

    We have a management staff of about 20 different members who are able to help with anything you may need related to School Nutrition. We have two ways to contact us:

    1. Visit our "Contact Us" page here to see a list of our management team below with topics that we receive frequently asked questions for.

    2. Go to our "Contact Us" online form here to submit a request to either leave a comment/suggestion or to have someone reach out to you via phone or email.