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534-UNPAID MEAL CHARGES
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| Mabel Canton Schools Adopted 2000 Revised: January 2018 534-UNPAID MEAL CHARGES I. PURPOSE The purpose of this policy is to ensure that students receive healthy and nutritious meals through the school district's nutrition program and that school district employees, families, and students have a shared understanding of expectations regarding meal charges. The policy seeks to allow students to receive the nutrition they need to stay focused during the school day and minimize identification of students with insufficient funds to pay for school meals as well as to maintain the financial integrity of the school nutrition program. II. PAYMENT OF MEALS A. All meal purchases are to be prepaid before meal service begins. B. If the school district receives school lunch aid under Minn. Stat. § 124D.111, it must make lunch available without charge to all participating students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals regardless of account balance. C. All snack cart items are cash only items. D. If a parent or guardian chooses to send in one payment that is to be divided between sibling accounts, the parent or guardian must specify how the funds are to be distributed to the students' accounts. Funds may not be transferred between sibling accounts unless written permission is received from the parent or guardian. Payments nt specified to individual accounts will be distributed according to account needs of the family. E. All lunch accounts must be reconciled when a student has dis-enrolled or graduates from the district. III. LOW OR NEGATIVE ACCOUNT BALANCES-NOTIFICATION A. The school district will make reasonable efforts to notify families when meal account balances are low or fall below zero. B. Families will be notified weekly once the account has a positive balance of $6.00 or less. Families will be notified by email, text and/or hard copies. C. Reminders for payment of outstanding student meal balances will not demean or stigmatize any student participating in the school lunch program. IV. UNPAID MEAL CHARGES A. The school district will make reasonable efforts to communicate with families to resolve the matter of unpaid charges. Where appropriate, families may be encouraged to apply for free and reduced-price meals for their children. B. The school district will make reasonable efforts to collect unpaid meal charges classified as delinquent debt. Unpaid meal charges are designated as delinquent debt when payment is overdue, the debt is considered collectable, and efforts are being made to collect it. C. Negative balances of more than $30.00, will be turned over to the superintendent or superintendent's designee for collection. Collection options may include, but are not limited to, use of collection agencies, claims in the conciliation court, or any other legal method permitted by law. D. The school district may not enlist the assistance of non-school district employees, such as volunteers, to engage in debt collection efforts. V. COMMUNICATION OF POLICY A. This policy and any pertinent supporting information shall be provided in writing to: 1. All households at or before the start of each school year in the Back to School Newsletter, student handbooks, and the school website. 2. Students and families who transfer into the school district, at the time of enrollment; and 3. All school district personnel who are responsible for enforcing this policy. B. The school district may post the policy on the school district's website, in addition to providing the required written notification described above. VI. PAYMENT PROCEDURES A. All payments are to be brought directly to the office. Please make out separate checks for each type of payment (examples: athletic fee, hot lunch account, library fine) in order to simplify bookkeeping. You may include more than one child in each type of payment. Please note the amount for each child. Legal References: Minn, Stat. § 124D.111, Subd. 4 42 U.S.C. § 1751 et seq. (Healthy and Hunger-Free Kinds Act) 7 C.F.R § 210 et seq. (School Lunch Program Regulations) 7 C.F.R § 220.8 (School Breakfast Program Regulations) USDA Policy Memorandum SP 46-2016, Unpaid Meal Charges: Local Meal Charge Policies (2016) Meal Charges Policies (2016) USDA Policy Memorandum SP 47-2016, Unpaid Meal Charges: Clarification on Collection Delinquent Meal Payments (2016) USDA Policy Memorandum SP 23-2017, Unpaid Meal Charges: Guidance and Q&A 534-3 |
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