Nutrition and Food Services

2023/24   Meal Prices

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LINQ Connect

• You can add your student to the account and deposit money for meals at the school.
• Please make sure that your student states that they are a PHILOMATH student.

The Oregon Legislature expanded access for students to receive free meals.  The Oregon Expanded Income Guidelines (EIG) is part of the Student Success Act that was signed into law on May 20, 2019. The purpose of the program is to increase access to and participation in school meal programs. It is an Oregon funded school meal program that supports students who do not qualify for free and reduced meal benefits using federal income guidelines. 

Thanks to the Oregon State Legislature, students who qualify can have breakfast and lunch at no charge. This will help parents save money and give children the nutrition they need to be successful in school. Children receiving benefits are not identified to other students or adults.

• All information is confidential.
• Use one application per household (including all school-age children.)
• Children from households that receive Food Stamps or TANF benefits are automatically eligible for free meals. An application still must be filled out and submitted.
• All Foster children are eligible for free meals. An application still must be filled out and submitted.
• Official eligibility notification letters will be emailed after applications have been processed. If no email is provided, a letter will be mailed.

How to Apply

Parents and guardians must submit a new application each year unless they already received an email or letter saying their student has been approved for the current year. Applications are accepted at any time during the school year.

LINQ Connect

Families are encouraged to apply online. Computers will be available at "Start of School" Registration events and in the front office of your school.

Families who qualify at the Oregon EIG level, but do not qualify at the federal level will receive two separate notifications:

• a letter notifying they do not qualify at the federal level
• a letter notifying they qualify at the Oregon EIG level

We recognize this will be confusing to families and they may think they are getting denied all together when they receive that first notification. We are currently working on a solution to ensure families receive clear guidance about their eligibility.

If you have not yet received notification and want to know if your child has been approved for Free or Reduced meals, please log in to the LINQconnect.com portal using Google Chrome and link your child. You will be able to see their eligibility as well as carryover expiration date or

Oregon law requires school districts to provide a complete meal to any student who wants one, regardless of whether they have money in their meal account. No student will be refused a complete “reimbursable” breakfast or lunch. Charges will be applied to the student’s meal account and payment is expected promptly.

However, students cannot charge for ala-carte transactions. The LINQ point of sale system will not allow students to charge ala-carte transactions. Milk by itself (when a student brings their meal from home) is an ala-carte transaction.

• If a student brings their lunch from home and wants to purchase milk, they will need to have money in their meal account. Water is always available.
• Students eligible for Free meals must have a complete meal for it to be no charge. “Milk only” is not free and can only be purchased with cash or from funds in their meal account. There is no charging for milk only.

Parents are responsible for maintaining sufficient funds in their student’s meal account. Please use the LINQ family portal to monitor and manage your student meal accounts. 

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 a 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. eEmail:
   Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.