Skip To Main Content

district-nav

right-container

right-top-container

mobile-main-nav

header-portals-nav

header-container

logo-container

logo-image

logo-image-district

logo-title

right-container

right-top-container

search-container

header-portals-nav

district-nav

fs-weglot-container-desktop

horizontal-nav

Breadcrumb

P7410 Collection of Nutrition Services Monies and Unpaid Meal Charges

  • 7400 Nutrition Services
P7410 Collection of Nutrition Services Monies and Unpaid Meal Charges

The building principal and the Director of Nutrition Services shall be responsible for administering the Nutrition Service program within a school. Provision for collecting and for accounting of Nutrition Service monies is a part of the administrative responsibility. 

Administrative Implemental Procedures: 

  1. The collection and handling of Nutrition Services monies shall be a responsibility of the school principal. 
    1. In schools with production kitchens, the collection and handling of Nutrition Services monies shall be a responsibility assigned by the building principal to the nutrition service manager of the school. Actual collection and handling will be accomplished by trained cashier(s). 
    2. In schools without production kitchens, the building principal shall allocate clerical time needed to administer the Nutrition Service program properly. Allocation will be made according to the requirements of the nutrition service program and guidelines established by Human Resources. 
  2. All schools shall use the point-of-sale accountability system approved for use in the schools for purposes of recording payments and for recording meals and a la carte items purchased and served. 
  3. All schools shall receipt Nutrition Services monies received or refunded per activity fund accounting instructions. 
    1. In schools with production kitchens, monies collected will be deposited directly to the Nutrition Service account at the designated bank. A schedule will be established each year for schools to receive pickup services by contract messenger. Procedures for processing monies for pickup and deposit will be given upon request by the Nutrition Services department. 
    2. In schools without production kitchens, all Nutrition Services monies collected must be receipted into the school activity fund. 
      1. On the last school day of the month, each school shall prepare a check written against the school’s activity fund, and, with other supporting documents, make payment directly to the cashier of Unified School District 259 for Nutrition Services monies collected during the month. 
      2. At the close of the school year after all refunds have been made and the final supporting papers have been prepared, a final check shall be written to the Board of Education cashier for the balance of monies in the Nutrition Services account. 
  4. Reasonable effort should be made to refund Nutrition Services monies at the time of student withdrawal from the district, or as requested by the parent or guardian. Refunds shall be made per activity fund accounting instructions. Refunds shall be given up to one year after the date of the student’s withdrawal from the district. When a student transfers from one district attendance center to another, the student’s account balance will transfer with the student.  
  5. Households shall be encouraged to deposit money to meal accounts in advance of meal service. Information about the on-line and phone meal payment system shall be provided to all households to assist parents with the payment process. 
  6. This Collection of Nutrition Services Monies and Unpaid Meal Charges policy (P7410) shall be provided in writing to all households at the start of each school year, shall be provided in writing to all families that transfer into the school district, and shall be communicated to all school district staff responsible for enforcing any aspect of the policy. It shall be maintained in records, including how the policy is communicated to household and staff.  
  7. Students shall not be allowed to accrue large negative meal account balances. 
    1. The Nutrition Services Department shall notify the schools each year as to the maximum charges allowed in the Nutrition Services program.  
    2. If a student has a negative balance and brings more money than the value of the day’s meal(s), the excess money can be applied to the negative balance. A student cannot be refused a meal in order to apply the entire payment to a negative balance. 
    3. Students must have enough money in hand, or on account, to cover the cost of a la carte purchases. 
    4. Students and parents are to be notified when account balances are low and/or negative.  When a student is unable to pay for a meal(s), their parent/guardian will be notified automatically on the next scheduled negative balance notification (occurs twice weekly).   
  8. The building principal or designee must make reasonable efforts (i.e., e-mails, telephone calls, and/or text messages) to collect delinquent debt within a reasonable timeframe, as defined by the District’s Fee Collection Procedures. 
    1. The Fee Collection Procedures may be obtained from the school, or Nutrition Services office. 
    2. Delinquent debt shall be defined as unpaid meal charges that have not been collected for an active student and have not been collected for a withdrawn student at the end of the school year and up to one year following the withdrawal of a student. 
    3. Bad debt shall be defined as: 
      1. Debt that has not been collected for a withdrawn student after one year following withdraw of the student. At this point in time, the delinquent debt will be considered uncollectable.  
      2. Debt of active students deemed uncollectible on, or near the end of each semester. 
  9. Per USDA regulations, the District shall transfer funds for the bad debt from non-Federal sources to the Nutrition Services account. Nutrition Services shall provide a list of students with bad debt to the accounting department at the end of each semester and school year.  

Administrative Responsibility: Operations Division - Nutrition Services 

Latest Revision Date: October 2020 

Previous Revision Date: February 2020 P7410 

Updated administratively for alignment purposes: April 2021 

Download P7410