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Meal Charging Policy

4450 - Food Service Management

Meal Charge Policy

The District's policy on charged meals is:

  1. Students in grades K-12 who do not have meal money to pay for their breakfast or lunch are permitted to charge a maximum of three reimbursable lunches once their balance reaches zero.  Students who have reached their charging limit and request a meal will be offered an alternate meal which consists of a bowl of cereal, a serving of fruit or vegetable and milk.  The cost of the alternative meal will be added to the outstanding balance.  If a student has a charge balance, the school must provide a meal when the student is using money to pay for the current day's meal or future meals.
     
  2. The charging privilege pertains to complete school meals only.  Students who have negative account balances cannot charge a la carte items.
     
  3. When a student's account falls below zero in their account, the parent or guardian will receive an email alert to notify that their student's account is in need of a deposit.
     
  4. The point-of-sale system tracks all charges and payments. Students with unpaid balances are required to pay their owed balance in full by the last day of each school year.  No charging will be allowed the last week of every school year to make certain that all debts are paid in full by the end of the year.
     
  5. If a student is without meal money on a consistent basis, the administration will investigate more closely and take further action as needed. If financial hardship exists, parents and families are encouraged to apply for free or reduced price lunches for their child.
     
  6. Students who qualify for free meals will not be denied a reimbursable meal, even if they have accrued a negative balance from other food purchases.
     
  7. The Board directs the Superintendent to publicly post and communicate this policy to staff and parents.