Department of Food and Nutrition Services > Meal Payments/FARMS

Meal Payments/FARMS

• Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Schools
• Purchasing School Meals at NON-CEP Schools
• Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS)
• How to Prepay
• Check Acceptance Policy
• Manage Account Balances
• Online Prepayments
• Frequently Asked Questions

Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Schools

New for the 2024–2025 School Year

60 MCPS Schools will operate under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).  Students enrolled at these CEP schools may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost regardless of household income.  A list of the participating schools can be found here.

Purchasing School Meals at NON-CEP Schools

Meal Prices for School Year 2024–2025:

DFNS encourages all families with students enrolled at non-CEP schools to complete a Free and Reduced-price Meals Application (see next section for more details).

All meals are free for students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals.

• MCPS cafeterias use a computerized Point of Sale (POS) system. Students use either an ID card with a specialized barcode or their student ID number to access their account at mealtime.
• A student's Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARM) status is always confidential.
• Students who qualify for reduced-price meals will not be charged that cost—students approved for reduced-price meals will eat for free!
• Any student can make deposits into their account, either ahead of time, on My School Bucks, or by our online payment system (see below).

Apply for FARMS

Free and Reduced-Price Meals

Students at schools participating in  CEP are eligibile for free meals and do not need to apply for Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARMS).  Students at non-CEP schools may qualify for free or reduced-price meals based on household size and income. They may also qualify if they are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), or Medicaid benefits. Families may apply for meal benefits by completing an Application for Free and Reduced-price Meals for the current school year.

Students who qualify for reduced-price meals will eat for free!

Apply online at MySchoolApps.com (translations available) Click here for an English video tutorial.

Vea aquí un vídeo paso a paso en español sobre cómo completar la solicitud de FARMS.

• Federal eligibility guidelines change each school year; therefore, a new application must be submitted each school year.
• List all students in the family on one household application.
• Each student will be notified of meal benefit status (including both those approved, and those who do not qualify) by mail.  Please keep this important document for your records and use throughout the school year.
• Families may apply for meal benefits at any time during the school year. 
• Households that are unable to apply online should contact their school or the Department of Food and Nutrition Services at 240-740-7400.

Apply Online

How to Prepay

• Parents/guardians may deposit any amount into their student’s school meals account. Meals and à-la-carte items are deducted from the account at the time of purchase only.
• The school meals account is not a credit system.
• Checks are the best way to make a deposit. Write the student’s name and ID number on the front of the check and make it payable to the school cafeteria.
• You may give checks, money orders or cash to the cafeteria manager or cashier. Prepayments help serving lines run smoothly.
• If parents/guardians have more than one child in the same school, you can write a check for all your children there. Be sure to write each student’s name and ID number on the check so that it can be credited properly.
• Please indicate the deposit amount for each student next to the name.

Check Acceptance Policy

• Checks used to pay for school meals must contain an address, phone number, and student ID number.
• We cannot accept post-dated checks.
• Returned checks are subject to recovery for the face value and a fee of $25, through an electronic debit or paper draft to the same account.
• Your payment by check constitutes your acceptance of these terms. If you have questions concerning our check acceptance policy, please call CHECKredi at 1-800-239-1222.

Manage Account Balances

• Account balances from the previous year follow the student to the public school in Montgomery County where the student is enrolled. Any money left on the account from the previous year will be available to that student for the new school year.
• If your student will NOT return to an MCPS school next year, you may request a refund.
• If you have another child currently enrolled in an MCPS school, you may request a balance transfer to that child's school.
• Balances can also be donated to support unpaid meal debt accrued by MCPS students. 
• Email refund and balance-transfer requests to DFNSHelpDesk@mcpsmd.org.

Online Prepayments

MySchoolBucks instructions:

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• MySchoolBucks is an optional service for parents to view recent purchases and make prepayments to a student's school meals account for breakfast, lunch, and à-la-carte meals online, using a credit or debit card.
• Parents can manage their child's school meal payments by creating a secure online account.
• Payments to student accounts through MySchoolBucks is an option and not a requirement. 
• Please note that there is $2.49 transaction fee charged for each credit/debit card payment made with MySchoolBucks. Funds can continue to be added to student meal accounts at no charge by bringing cash, checks or money orders directly to school cafeteria managers. 

How to Enroll in MySchoolBucks

• Go to www.myschoolbucks.com and click on "Sign up today!"
• Create an account for yourself, and add your children. You will need the student’s name (exactly as it appears on their report card), school, grade, birth date, and six-digit student ID number.
• (OPTIONAL) Provide credit or debit card information, if you would like to make prepayments to your child's cafeteria account.
• Select a Meal Payment Option to make a prepayment, or select your child's name to view recent cafeteria purchases.

Explanation of Fees

• There is a $2.49 convenience fee for each payment transaction. All fees are displayed at the time of payment.
• There is no cost to set up an account and check your child’s spending history or receive low-balance notifications.
• Neither the school nor the Division of Food and Nutrition Services receive any income from providing this service. Fees are associated with processing online credit and debit card payments.
• This service is optional—schools will continue to accept checks, cash or money orders for meals in the cafeteria.

Support

Call the MySchoolBucks toll-free customer support center at 1-855-832-5226 for assistance with enrollment or questions about your account. MySchoolBucks support staff are available Monday to Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Manage School Cafeteria Account Balances

If your child will be returning to a MCPS school, any remaining balance will automatically carry forward to the school your child will attend next school year. If your child will NOT return to MCPS next year, you should request a refund. You can request a balance transfer if you have another child currently enrolled in an MCPS school.  Email refund and balance transfer requests to DFNSHelpDesk@mcpsmd.org.