Food and Nutrition Services – HCPSS HCPSS proudly serves more than 5.5 million high-quality meals each year 2026 Free Summer Meals Program To continue meeting the growing need to feed hungry children and families in Howard County and fill the nutritional gap over the summer months, the Howard County Public School System announces its free summer meal program, which will run weekdays June 24-July 31, 2026. Please note! There will be no meal service Friday, July 3 , with schools closed for the holiday. Complete details on the HCPSS 2026 Summer Meals Program are available online. Jump to: LINQ Connect Menus, Nutrition & Allergies Meal Payments and Refunds Free & Reduced Meals | | Meal Prices Contact & Information FAQs Using LINQ Connect HCPSS uses LINQ Connect for all things food and nutrition. LINQ Connect is a secure, online portal that allows families to view breakfast and lunch menus, make online payments to their child’s meal account, monitor their child’s accounts, schedule recurring payments and/or low balance alerts, and submit an online application for the Free and Reduced Meals program LINQ Connect can easily be accessed online or via mobile app. Parents/guardians can create an account to make online payments to their child’s meal account, monitor their child’s account, schedule automatic recurring payments, set up low balance alerts, submit a Free and Reduced Meals program application, and more. Create a New Account OR Login to Account When creating a new account, you do not need to use the same email/credentials as MySchoolBucks or other HCPSS applications. To add a student, parents/guardians will need your child’s student ID, which can be found by logging into HCPSS Connect Synergy Menus, Nutrition & Allergies Menus All school menus can be accessed through the LINQ Connect parent/guardian portal , on the public-facing LINQ Connect website , or in the mobile app. Please note, the public-facing LINQ website defaults to display Atholton Elementary. Users can select their child’s school by selecting the School box at the top left and choosing their school. The LINQ Connect online menus additionally display nutritional information, allergens, dietary and religious restrictions, and more. Families with children in more than one school building can easily toggle between buildings via the same screen. Nutritional and Allergen Concerns All nutritional information for HCPSS meals is available via the LINQ Connect website Students with known food allergies (shellfish, tree nuts, gluten, lactose, etc.) must have a formal notice of their allergies from a doctor and submitted to the school nurse. Students who would like to purchase food from the cafeteria can have accommodations made that are suited to their allergies. Meal Payments and Refunds Meal Payment Meal payments may be made via credit card using the LINQ Connect portal . Meal payments can also be made in the each school cafeteria using cash or check. Each student is assigned a unique, 6-digit cafeteria PIN, which cashiers can look if a student forgets. This PIN allows HCPSS to receive reimbursements from the National School Lunch Program. Any meals purchased without a PIN will incur an additional charge of $0.30 for breakfast and $0.60 for lunch. Refunds To request a refund of meal balances at any time, complete this brief online form . Parents/guardians will need to provide your child’s cafeteria PIN, which can be located by logging in to HCPSS Connect Synergy and selecting the Student Info button. Unpaid Meal Charges Parents/guardians are responsible for providing their student(s) with money for meals, or packing a meal from home. If a student forgets or does not have lunch, HCPSS practice is to ensure that no student goes hungry or is traumatized for lack of funds. A meal will be provided and a charge will be applied to the student’s meal account. Meals will never be taken away when there are no funds or a negative balance in a student’s meal account. More information is provided in Board of Education Policy 4200 Meal Charges Free and Reduced Meals (FARMs) HCPSS participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. Students from households that meet federal income guidelines are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals. Parents/guardians must submit a new application every school year to maintain their student’s eligibility. Learn more and apply for Free and Reduced Meals Eleven HCPSS schools, listed below, will receiving Free Meals for Breakfast and Lunch for the 2024-2025 school year under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Schools. Students enrolled in these CEP schools may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost regardless of household income. Bryant Woods Elementary Cradlerock Elementary Deep Run Elementary Ducketts Lane Elementary Guilford Elementary Harper’s Choice Middle Homewood School Lake Elkhorn Middle Laurel Woods Elementary Running Brook Elementary Stevens Forest Elementary Meal Prices Daily Meal Prices – Daily meal prices apply for students whose families do not qualify for free or reduced meals. Student Breakfast Breakfast – $2.00 Reduced Price Breakfast – $0.00 ( Find out how to qualify for FARMS Free Breakfast – $0.00 ( Find out how to qualify for FARMS Student Lunch Elementary School Lunch – $2.80 Middle/High School Lunch – $3.30 Reduced Price Lunch – $0.00 ( Find out how to qualify for FARMS Free Lunch – $0.00 ( Find out how to qualify for FARMS Milk (1/2 pint) – $0.50 Faculty and Staff Adult Breakfast Breakfast – $2.75 Adult Lunch Regular Lunch – $4.50 Contact & More Info Answers to frequently-asked-questions about HCPSS meals and Food Services can be found on the HCPSS Help website. For any other questions or concerns, feel free to contact our office at 410-313-7134. View all food services staff contact information Provide Feedback We value feedback from parents and community members on meal choices, nutrition and wellness, and many other topics to improve our services. Food and Nutrition Services Feedback Form View the USDA and Maryland State Department of Education Nondiscrimination Statements →