EFD-R - Meal Charge Policy and Procedures

File: EFD -R

Meal Charge Policy and Procedures

The Franklin Public Schools believes that no child should be denied a reimbursable meal regardless of their ability to pay at the time the meal is served.  Food services is a self-supporting entity within the district and provides oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances.

Prices for school meals are set by the Franklin School Committee within the parameters of federal and state regulations and can be found on the District’s website.

KEY TERMS

  • Reimbursable Meal:  A reimbursable meal contains at least three (3) of the five (5) offered meal components (grain, meat/meat alternative, fruit, vegetable, and milk).  In addition, one of these components must be a fruit and/or vegetable.
  • Non-Reimbursable Meal:  Non-reimbursable meals are not part of the USDA School Nutrition Program and do not qualify for free or reduced price.  These meals cannot be charged and must be paid for at the time of sale with cash or check or via pre-paid funds on account.  A meal that does not contain at least three (3) of the five (5) offered meal components (grain, meat/meat alternative, fruit, vegetable, and milk) and does not include a fruit and/or vegetable as one of those components is considered a non-reimbursable meal.
  • Second Meals:  An additional meal consisting of one (1) or more components of the offered meal sold on an a la carte basis.  Second meals are not part of the USDA School Nutrition Program and do not qualify for free or reduced price.  Second meals cannot be charged and must be paid at full price at the time of sale with cash, a check or pre-paid funds on account.
  • A la carte Items:  A snack, bottled water, juice, milk (priced individually, not part of a reimbursable meal) or any single component of a meal.  A la carte items do not qualify for free or reduced price and must be paid for at the time of sale with cash, check payable to Franklin School Lunch or pre-paid funds on account.
  • Free Meal:  A reimbursable meal (breakfast or lunch) served to a student who is directly certified or approved as eligible for Free meal benefits.
  • Reduced Price Meal:  A reimbursable breakfast priced at 30 cents or a reimbursable lunch priced at 40 cents served to a student who is directly certified or approved as eligible for reduced meal benefits.
  • Online Pre-paid Account:  An account on MySchoolBucks.com, a free online service that enables parents/guardians to access their student’s school lunch account, view recent transactions and account balance, setup low balance alerts and automatic payments, and make pre-payments on account by e-check or major credit card.  The account is free, however there is a small transaction fee charged by myschoolbucks.com for online payments.  Only one fee is charged when multiple family members’ accounts are loaded at the same time.  The transaction fee is collected by myschoolbucks.com and does not benefit the Franklin Public Schools or Franklin School Lunch Program.
  • School Meal/School Lunch Account:  An account assigned to every student in the district, regardless of whether or not they participate in the school meal program.  Students access their account by keying in their unique ID on PIN pads located at each register.  Cashiers can also look up accounts by entering a student’s last name.  Data required to be reported to federal and state agencies is maintained through the Point of Sale (POS) system.  Student eligibility status and other personal information is securely contained within the school meal account to assure confidentiality.
  • Good Standing:  A school meal/lunch account with a zero or positive balance.
  • Payment:  Cash or check paid daily for school meals or a la carte items, or with pre-paid funds on account.
  • Pre-payment:  Funds on account.  Pre-payment is accepted in the form of cash or a check payable to “Franklin School Lunch” at any register, or through the online pre-payment service (MySchoolBucks.com) using an e-check or major credit card.
  • Charge:  Purchasing a reimbursable meal without making payment at the time of purchase with cash, a check, or pre-paid funds on account.

METHOD OF PAYMENT

Meeting children’s nutritional needs is an important part of their learning experience. The responsibility for remembering the payment for meals rests with the parent or guardian.  

Franklin Public Schools accepts pre-payments of cash or check payable to Franklin School Lunch at any register or e-checks and major credit cards via MySchoolBucks.com, our online pre-payment service.  Cash or check at the time of purchase is also accepted at any register.

Parents/Guardians are encouraged to sign up for a free online account with MySchoolBucks.com.  This service provides access to families to view recent transaction history, request e-mail alerts for low balances, make payments and pre-payments to a student’s account and set up automatic deposits to a student’s account.  There is a small transaction fee that is charged by MySchoolBucks.com for online payments, however the Franklin Public Schools does not benefit from or collect those fees.  Information on accessing MySchoolBucks.com is available on the Food Service Office website.

STUDENTS WITH A FREE MEAL OR REDUCED MEAL STATUS

  • The federal school lunch program allows a free eligible student to receive one reimbursable breakfast (at those schools with a breakfast program) and one reimbursable lunch at no charge each day.  Reduced eligible students can receive one reimbursable school breakfast (at those schools with a breakfast program) at the reduced price of $.30 and one reimbursable lunch at the reduced price of $.40.
  • Students are required to take a reimbursable meal in order to receive it at no charge or reduced price.
  • If a student does not take a reimbursable meal, the meal does not qualify for free or reduced price status and full price must be paid with cash, check or pre-paid funds at the time of sale.  If the student does not have cash or pre-paid funds on their account, the meal will be charged at full price to the student’s account resulting in a negative balance.

STUDENT ACCOUNTS

Any student whose school meal account has a zero or negative balance will be allowed to charge a reimbursable meal.  Charging a reimbursable meal will result in a negative balance on the student’s account until funds are added to bring it current.

Based on guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the district recognizes that the school food service account cannot be used to cover the cost of charged meals that have not been paid.

The Food Service Office is responsible for ensuring that the School Meal/Lunch Accounts are properly managed and accurately reported.  The cafeteria managers and Food Service Office will monitor student school meal accounts with the goal of eliminating negative balances and delinquent accounts. Students with a negative balance may be reminded by the cashier of their account status in a confidential and developmentally appropriate manner. When an account has a negative balance the cafeteria manager or School Office may send a letter or e-mail to the parent or guardian of the child.  If no payment or collection is made, the Food Service Department or the School Office will contact the parent or guardian in an attempt to settle or collect the unpaid balance.

If a student is without meal money on a consistent basis, the administration may take further action as needed.  Parents and families are encouraged to apply for free or reduced price meals for their child(ren).  Information on applying for free or reduced meals is available on the Food Service Office website.  Free or Reduced lunch applications are available at each school and online and can be completed at any time throughout the school year. 

The Food Service Department will make every effort to collect unpaid balances and will contact parents/guardians via e-mail, regular postal mail or phone regarding deficit balances.  Parents/guardians are encouraged to contact food services directly to discuss payment options. 

Student negative balance amounts are retained in the NutriKids POS meal system until resolved. That account information is available either online or through the Food Service Office at 508-613-1477. Account balances are updated daily. Payments may take up to 24 – 48 hours to appear on the student’s account and to update on the registers at the child’s school.

All outstanding school lunch account balances must be paid in full prior to the end of the school year. If further collection actions are needed, the Food Service Director will bring the issue to the School Principal and/or School Business Administrator for further collection actions which may involve referral to a collection agency.  Thereafter, the Food Service Department will track negative balances and report same to the School Business Administrator prior to the close of the school year (June 30th).  If necessary, the School Business Administrator shall cause a journal entry to be made to charge the uncollected debt to the School budget appropriation.

 

CREDIT BALANCES AND REFUND POLICY

If a student has funds on a prepaid account, any balance at the end of the year will carry over to the following school year. Any balances can be transferred to another student (sibling, friend or neighbor), however, refunds are not issued. Transfers can be requested by calling or e-mailing the Food Service Office.

After one (1) year, any remaining credit balance on a school lunch account for a student who is no longer enrolled in the Franklin Public Schools will become the property of the Franklin School Lunch Program. The funds will be used as a donation to the School Lunch Program to offset uncollected debt.

 

Adopted by School Committee:  6/26/2018

Reviewed, no revisions:   6/24/2020