Food Services

Columbia Heights Public Schools provides a healthy breakfast, lunch and after-school snack for students each day. Last school year, we were approved to be a Community Eligible District (CEP) at all of our school sites. All families who do not receive a letter from the district stating their household must be "Directly Certified" fill out an educational benefits application to determine the household's eligibility in order to qualify for additional educational benefits. 

All households should fill out an online educational benefits application before the first day of school on September 2nd, 2025. Here is a list of other benefits that apply to households that qualify:

• Reduced rates for middle and high school activities
• Compensatory funds for the District to reduce class sizes, provide counseling & social work services and hire Media Center Specialists and Educational Assistants.
• Reduced Tuition and/or scholarships for Early Childhood programming.
• Reduced AP testing and college application fees.
• Title I funds for the District for academic support.

APPLY ONLINE

English Letter

English Form

Spanish Letter

Spanish Form

Families can pay meal fees via:

My School Bucks

• Fruit
• Vegetable
• Meat or Meat Alternative
• Milk
• Grain

Below are the instructions for creating an online account with MySchoolBucks, so you can track the meals your student is getting and apply for Educational Benefits. 

1. Go to www.myschoolbucks.com
2. Click "Sign Up Free".
3. Complete the steps (email, first and last name, phone number and create a password).
4. Once created, the site will have you log in for the first time (you will likely have received a verification code, but you can select "Don't Ask Again" to avoid that when logging in in the future).
5. The site will show your account information, including contact information, as well as the Account Security (which you can set up at this time, in case you forget your password at any point).
6. Once you are ready, click "Get Started".
7. You will be prompted to add your District. Select "Minnesota" for State and "Columbia Heights ISD" for District. Click "Add District".
8. The screen should either have a pop-up to click that says "Add Student," or it will be right on the first screen.
9. Complete the information for your student(s) - School, First and Last Name are REQUIRED, and EITHER the birthday of the student OR student number (or both if you would like) as the second form of verification to locate them.
10. Once you enter the information and click "Find Student", it will bring up a match. Verify the information and click "Add Student".

If you need assistance with your account, check out these How-To Videos or Frequently Asked Questions. Or you can call the Food Services Department at 763-528-4520.