Food Service

Welcome to a new school year! Healthy for Life™ is our commitment to create healthier environments and communities, by providing not only healthy foods but comprehensive nutrition and wellness seducation.The School District of Howards Grove Food Service staff is looking forward to serving your children nutritious, great-tasting menus that support their achievements in school and promote healthy lifestyles.

We offer a variety of meal choices with one goal in mind: to provide outstanding service and high quality “kid-friendly” meals that meet or exceed the latest federal and state requirements. The school District of Howards Grove menus are designed to ensure that students receive a balanced meal, consisting of foods from all major food groups in the right proportions to meet calorie and other nutrient needs.

The products and the cooking methods we use conserve food quality and nutrients, while limiting the addition of fats, salt and sugar and eliminate frying. So although you may see popular items like pizza and chicken nuggets on your menus, be assured that your child’s school meal selections contain healthy whole grains and are lower in fat and salt than what you find in grocery stores or restaurants. We will also be offering some different foods that your children may not have tried before, so please encourage your child to taste these items. They just might become a new favorite! Remember to check out the menus posted below.

Howards Grove Schools will continue to utilize Skyward for lunch service. All children receive a photo identification card that is used for any purchase. Family Lunch Accounts are used so all children in the family are under one account. Three payment options are available:On-line through E-funds (link is located on the website); Food Service envelope (located in each office); Printable website form. Fill out the forms completely to ensure your payment is credited to the correct account.You may access your account payment and purchase information through Family Access at any time 

Policy Manual

Section

8000 Operations

Title

SCHOOL MEAL ACCOUNT CHARGES AND COLLECTIONS

Code

po8500.01

Status

Active

Adopted

August 21, 2023

Last Revised

November 20, 2023

8500.01 - SCHOOL MEAL ACCOUNT CHARGES AND COLLECTIONS

Access to School Meals and Other Food Service Items

Parents and guardians must plan for their child to have sufficient access to food at school on each school day and must actively monitor and manage their child’s school food service account. In order to help parents and guardians meet these responsibilities and to ensure that school families are reasonably informed about the food-service options that are available to students, the District has established the following guidelines regarding food-service charges and student access to food at school:

1. A student will always be permitted to select and receive one of the standard school meal options if either of the following apply:
     
   1. The District has determined that the student is currently eligible to receive free meals at school; or
        
   2. The student has sufficient prepaid funds in his/her food service account, or enough money in hand, to pay for the meal on the day the meal is purchased.
        
2. When a student purchases a school meal or any other food-service items, the general rule is that payment is due no later than at the time of service. However, the District’s food service account system normally allows a student to charge up to -$10 in his/her account as a negative balance before the District will take steps to restrict the student’s food choices. The primary purpose of allowing a limited and temporary negative balance is to prevent an unexpected interruption in meal service on a day that a student inadvertently has insufficient funds available. In addition:
     
   1. Once students have gone negative, a student may charge only one of the standard school meal options that is being offered (i.e., a federally-qualifying meal option that is on the menu). Students may not charge the cost of a second meal, an extra entrée, or any a la carte items.
        
   2. The District may deny the privilege of charging items to a student who repeatedly establishes a negative account balance that is not promptly repaid upon notice of the amount owed.
        
   3. A parent or guardian may arrange to restrict their child’s ability to charge a negative balance.
        
3. Students who are not eligible for free school meals, who do not have money to pay for their food, who have reached their limit on unrestricted charges -$10, and who do not bring food from home will be permitted to charge to their account only a low-cost, alternate federally-qualifying meal that is specified by the District and that is being offered at the particular meal service. A student who is eligible for reduced-price meals will be charged for the meal at the reduced-price meal rate.

Negative Account Balances and Collection Procedures

A negative balance in a student food service account is a debt that is owed by the student’s parent or guardian (or, if applicable, by an adult student). The District does not charge interest or impose a monetary penalty for past-due amounts owed in a student’s food service account.
  

The District will send out email notifications when a student has a low balance of $10 which will be sent out twice a week. Once a student’s account has a negative balance, the Food Service Director will make an initial and follow-up attempt to collect the debt by providing the student’s parent or guardian with a telephone call of the amount owed or email.. Payment is due immediately upon notice. The Food Service Director and the parent or guardian may discuss payment plan options.

Negative Balance - Communication by Building Principal
  

If an account has a negative balance of $25.00, contact will be made by the student’s principal. Principals will reiterate the opportunity to complete paperwork for free/reduced lunches if there is a financial difficulty, and explain that the student may begin to receive an alternative lunch. The lunch will have all the required USDA components, and will be charged the regular lunch rate.

Negative Balance - Communication by District Office
  

Accounts that have a negative balance of $30.00 or more will receive a letter from the District Office. Ongoing contact will be made to bring the account current. If a negative balance still has not been paid after the collection efforts described in the previous paragraph, parents and guardians should be aware of the following:
  

1. At its discretion, the District may continue to pursue collection efforts.
     
2. Debt in a student food service account is not automatically discharged, forgiven, or reduced at the end of the school year or due to a change in a student’s enrollment status (e.g., graduates, transfers, dropouts, etc.).
     
3. Debts owed to the District’s food service program may result in the denial of certain school-related privileges in the same manner that applies to other past-due school fees and charges.
     
4. At its discretion and to the extent permitted by law, the District may attempt to achieve collection of a food-service-program debt by placing a lien, referring the debt to a collection service, or initiating an action in small claims court. However, before the District takes any of the steps identified in this paragraph, the District will communicate the intended course of action to a person responsible for payment with a final notice of the amount due.
     

Payments and Account Management
  

For any meals and other food service items (i.e., food or drinks including milk) that are available for purchase and that a student is not entitled to receive for free, it is ultimately the responsibility of each student’s parent or guardian to pay for the items that their child receives.

The District offers an online system that a parent or guardian can use to monitor and manage each child’s school food service account, including making payments. Transaction fees will be charged when using the online system for payments. To avoid paying fees with the online system, a person may make a payment for a student’s meals or food service account may (1) present a payment in person using cash or check during normal school hours at the student’s school (2) bring cash to the main office of the students school in order to pay for a student’s meal or other food service items on the actual day of service, (3) provide a student with cash to pay for items on the day of service, or (4) request consideration of other methods by contacting the Food Service Director.