Serving Students with Special Needs

Nutrition Services will provide alternate foods for students with a disability, if requested and a completed physician prescription is submitted to the school nurse. Examples of conditions that qualify as a disability include muscular dystrophy, metabolic disorders, and anaphylactic food allergy. A food intolerance or an allergy that does not cause anaphylaxis does not meet the definition of a disability.

If your student has special dietary needs, please review the Guidelines for Accommodating Children with Special Needs. A physician prescription form is required for any menu modifications; please have a doctor complete the Physician Letter for Students with a Disability and return it to your school nurse. If your student has diabetes and needs carbohydrate information, please complete the Carbohydrate Menu Request Form and return it to your school nurse.

School Menu Planning

FWCS menus are planned by registered dietitians to meet the nutrition goals established by USDA's School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. These nutrition goals are based on:

• The Recommended Dietary Allowances
• Children's calorie requirements
• The recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Nutrition Services uses a nutrient-based approach to menu planning (rather than specific food components in specific amounts). This approach requires a nutritional analysis of all foods on the menu, using an USDA-approved computer software program. When averaged over a school week, FWCS meals provide:

• 1/3 of calorie needs for each age or grade group for lunch, and 1/4 of calorie needs for breakfast
• 1/3 of the RDA at lunch and 1/4 of the RDA at breakfast for protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron
• no more than 30% of calories from fat and less than 10% of calories from saturated fat

In light of growing concerns about childhood overweight and obesity, Nutrition Services has improved the nutrition content of school meals and a la carte items, by:

• offering many fruit and vegetable choices daily
• offering bakery items that contain more fruit and fiber, such as apple gingerbread, cherry cake, strawberry muffin, etc.
• offering whole grain hamburger buns and bread in elementary and secondary schools; and whole grain hot dog buns, hoagie buns, and English muffins in secondary schools
• offering entrees specifically formulated for school meals to include more fiber and less fat, such as pizza, hamburger, etc.
• not using fryers - all items are baked
• working to incorporate white whole wheat flour into our bakery items for elementary menus
• limiting a la carte portion sizes to one per package and limiting fat to 8 grams or less per packaged item

FWCS Nutrition Services is supportive of farm to school efforts in our community. Nutrition Services uses local vendors, which source local produce when possible, to provide fresh produce to our schools.

For questions or comments about the menus, please contact us at 260-467-2055.