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Unpaid Meal Policy

Unpaid Meal Charges Procedure

The goal of the Nutrition Services department is to provide healthy meals to students during the school day.  In order to serve healthy, high-quality meals to all students, we must make sure we are financially solvent.  You play a key role in this effort, and are responsible for purchases made by your child on their Nutrition Services account.

The purpose of this procedure is to establish consistent meal account procedures throughout the School District. Unpaid charges place a financial strain on the Nutrition Services department.

This procedure will:

  • Ensure that all students have a healthy meal and that no student goes hungry.

  • Support positive and clear communication among staff, administrators, teachers, students and parent/guardian.

  • Encourage that the parent/guardian will assume the responsibility for the nutritional needs of their student whether it be providing a cold meal or funds for hot meals.

  • Promote self-responsibility of the student.

  • Establish a consistent practice regarding charges and collection of charges.

General Understandings

  • If the student brings enough money for a meal for that day, then the student will be able to receive a regular meal.

  •  All students with negative accounts will be prohibited from purchasing a la carte items.

  • Parents/Guardians can add money to a Student’s Account by:

    • Sending a payment with the student

    • Paying via the My School Bucks online portal

  • Parents will make a good faith effort to keep their students account in good standing and if the account is not in good standing the parents will send a cold lunch with their student or make a deposit to the account.

  • Student nutrition needs will be satisfied while in attendance at school.

 
Procedure for Collection:

Step 1: Once the student’s account gets to $10.00 or less, the cashier will notify the family that they are getting close to $0 and should consider making a deposit into their student's account. This notification will be sent out via email through the district’s point of sale system.

Step 2: When the account falls below $0 the cashier will notify the parent/guardian via email that their student’s account is below $0 and that a payment is needed to make the account in good standing. Students with $0 balances will not be allowed to make a la carte purchases.

Step 3: When the account gets to (-$10.00) the School Nutrition Director or designee shall contact the parents/guardians informing them of the account situation and inform them that the parent should deposit funds into the account and/or send a cold lunch with the student.  Also, a letter will be sent home for the parents/guardians to fill out a Free and Reduced Meal Application.

Step 4: When the account reaches (-$20.00) the Principal or designee shall send a letter home to the family notifying them about the balance and requesting that the amount be paid as soon as possible.

Step 5: If the account is still (-$20.00) or more after two weeks from sending home the letter as mentioned in Step 4, the principal will assign members from the building’s guidance team to contact the parents in order to set up an in person meeting about the overdue balance to discuss a potential path forward.

Step 6: If the amount remains (-$20.00) or more after two weeks from the time that the guidance team / principal have met with the family as mentioned in Step 5, and/or no potential path forward has been agreed upon to ensure the account remains in balance, the Director of Business Services / designee will send home a letter to the family notifying them about the balance’s potential escalation to collections. 

Step 7: If the account remains (-$20.00) or more after 30 days after the letter from the Director of Business Services / designee is sent as articulated in Step 6, the balance will be sent to collections.