Charge Policy

School Nutrition Program

Division Wide Charge Policy / Procedures

It is the goal of the School Nutrition Program to make nutritious meals accessible to all students to help support their academic success. However, excessive meal charges can place financial and time burdens on the School Nutrition Program. The United State Department of Agriculture’s regulations for School Nutrition states that no free meals may be served unless a student has an approved meal application.

It is the parent’s/guardian’s responsibility to provide the means for their student to be properly fed.

• Parents are encouraged to complete the free/reduced meal application annually to determine eligibility of free or reduced meals.
• Parents may provide breakfast and lunch from home
• Parents may provide money online or at their child’s school to purchase school meals

Parents/guardians can make payment through school nutrition page on the district website or by following the link to www.myschoolbucks.com

Payment online (www.myschoolbucks.com) allows parents to view account history, check account balances 24/7, view student cafeteria charges, and to receive low-balance email alerts.

Parents may also send payment (cash or check) to the cafeteria manager.

It is the policy of Carroll County Public Schools that no student is denied a meal.

In order to ensure compliance with these Federal and State regulations the following policies and practices are in effect:

• No child will be allowed to purchase a la carte items and/or extra items if they have a negative balance on their meal account.
• Balances (positive and negative) will be carried forward from year to year.
• Administrators may exclude students from extra–curricular activities or restrict privileges for students who have a debt. Students of parents/guardians who have a payment plan and are making payments to reduce their debt will not be excluded or restricted.

Households will have access to the written meal charge policy on the Carroll County Public Schools division website. The policy will also be included in the student information packet and attached to the free/reduced application

The student’s household will be notified when a student’s account is in the negative. When the debt reaches $10 notification will be sent to the parent/guardian through automated phone message and/or a delinquent balance statement sent home with the student.

Once a debt reaches $100 for a family, central office staff and school administration will investigate legal actions (i.e. collection agency, civil suit, social services, etc.) for payment of debt owed to the School Nutrition Program.

Adopted by Carroll County School Board

November 8, 2018

Non-Discrimination Statement & Form