Lunch Account Expectations and Procedures

It is the goal of the Medical Lake School District to feed our students nutritious and balanced meals to support their classroom learning and quality of life. With recent changes to Federal guidelines, districts are required to develop account expectations and procedures.

The Nutrition Services Department is responsible for maintaining records of meal charges and alerting households of meal balances by way of calls, emails, and letters.

The school district is responsible for assisting the Nutrition Services Department in the collection of unpaid funds as well as intervention on an administrative level if deemed necessary.

Parents/Guardians are responsible for maintaining a positive meal account balance for students and delegating responsibility to adult students. All charges made to your child’s meal account are expected to be paid in full.

At all grade levels:
1- The charging of à la carte items is not allowed when there is a negative balance (extra milk/entree, water, chips, etc.)
2- Staff must have a balance of no more than 5 negative meal charges in their lunch account to purchase a meal.
3- Households will receive meal balance notifications via email, telephone, and through the school office. Households may customize Skyward Family Access preferences to receive balance notifications.
4- An application for Free or Reduced Meals should be submitted at the beginning of each school year, and may be resubmitted at any time during the school year.
5- If a family communicates financial need and the district has a positive balance in its benevolence fund, assistance may be available upon request.
6- Phone calls will be made once a week to households with lunch balances of negative $5.00 or greater, and letters will be mailed home. A school administrator will contact the household to assist with filling out an application and determine if further assistance is needed.
7- Once the balance exceeds negative $50.00, the account will be transferred to student fees for collection, and families will work with the district on a payment plan.
8- Please Note: No student will be denied a meal under any circumstances. The cost of the meal they buy will be charged to their Skyward Lunch

    Account.

Payments:
Payments may be made online or in any school office with a debit or credit card. Elementary School teachers will collect money and deliver it to the front office daily. Middle School payments are to be placed in the Payment Box in the main office. High School payments are to be taken to the main school office and given to a secretary.

Refunds:
Refunds will be processed once a month, upon written request. You must provide your name, the student’s name, an address, and a phone number.

Reimbursable Meals:
Please understand, in order for a purchase to qualify and be charged as a reimbursable meal (breakfast or lunch), the proper meal components must be included. The student must choose three items from the service line, and one of those items must be at least half a cup of fruit or a vegetable.

 

Under the new Federal guidelines, if a student refuses to take three things, that student will be charged per item, and that purchase will not qualify as a reimbursable meal.