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[EFAA: Meal Charging]        

The Manchester School District recognizes the importance of good nutrition and shall take all reasonable steps to ensure students have access to school meals.

These steps include providing access to applications for Free and Reduced-Price meals for those families that qualify. The District will proactively enroll students found to be categorically eligible into the free or reduced price meal program.  The District will seek to enroll eligible students in the free or reduced price meal program upon learning from any source of the student's potential eligibility.  Application forms will be sent home at the beginning of each school year, posted on the District’s website, and available from each school’s main office. The Application may be completed electronically online. Applications are accepted and processed throughout the school year. When eligibility is established, the District will apply the earliest effective date permitted by federal and state law. 

The meal payment and charging policy will be mailed home to the parents of all students at all grade levels and posted in all school cafeterias as well as on our website. As required by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and USDA guidance, parents with Limited English Proficiency ("LEP") will be provided with information on this policy and the free and reduced price meal program in a language the parents can understand.  The District will utilize USDA and community resources to fulfill this requirement.  This policy and links to application materials for the free or reduced price meal program will be posted on the school web site and made available to parents at each school. 

The District will provide a copy of this policy and application materials for free or reduced price meals to town welfare offices/human services offices and other local social service agencies who may have contact with parents who are confronting layoffs or other financial hardship.

A.   Access to Meals

 Regardless of whether a student has money to pay for a meal or has a negative balance in the student meal account a student requesting a meal shall be provided with a meal from among the choices available to all students.  The only exception will be where the student's parents have provided the District with specific written direction that the student not be provided with a school lunch program meal, the student has a meal sent from home, or otherwise has access to an appropriate meal.  Under no circumstances will a student's selected meal be thrown away because of the status of the student's meal account.

It is the parents' responsibility to provide their student with a meal from home or to pay for school prepared meals.  Therefore, the District's policy is to direct communications to parents about student meal debt.  When parents chose to provide meals sent from home, it is the parents' responsibility to explain to their student the necessity of the student not using the school meal program. 

Initial efforts to contact parents will be by e-mail or phone, however if those efforts are unsuccessful, letters to parents may be sent home in sealed envelopes with the student.  Where the District has not received a response from the parents or the parents do not cooperate in resolving negative student meal account balances and the student continues to use the school meal program, for students in grade seven or higher, the principal or designee may communicate directly with the student in a manner that is private and which does not publicly identify or stigmatize the student.  Resolution of the problem should seek to ensure the student has ongoing access to an appropriate meal. 

If a student's meal account has a negative balance the student will be allowed to choose any of the meal choices generally available to all students.  These students will also not be allowed to charge a la carte or extra items. The purpose of limiting students with negative balance meal accounts is to mitigate the losses to the District from providing uncompensated meals, while ensuring that the student has access to a healthy meal.  It is the parents' responsibility to explain to the student that a la carte and extra items may not be charged.  A notice which directs the parent not to have their student charge a la carte or extra items, until the student's meal account is brought into positive balance, will be included with the communication demanding payment of the negative balance.  The student may not charge a la carte or extra items until the meal account is brought into a positive balance. 

B.   Uncollectable Debt:

At the end of the school year, the Food Service Department will provide a list of student accounts with negative balances in addition to an invoice to the School District Business Administrator (BA). The BA will direct the Accounts Payable Department to transfer funds from the General Fund to the Food Service fund for the entire amount of the invoice. The debt now belongs to the School District.

The School District will continue to attempt to collect the debt from the various households. The School District will require a partnership with Food Service to help in the collection process. Any payment made by the household to the District will be deposited back into the General Fund. If the household submits payment directly to Food Service, Food Service will transfer the money back to the General Fund.

C.   Staff Training 

A copy of this policy and refresher training shall be provided annually to all food service and school staff responsible for serving student meals or enforcing this policy.  New staff with these responsibilities shall be provided with a written copy of the policy and training on the policy during their initial training or orientation.  In accordance with federal requirements, a record shall be maintained documenting that new staff receive the policy and training.  The record must also document that all applicable staff receive a copy of the policy and refresher training annually.

D.   Student with Special Dietary Needs

Nothing in this policy prohibits providing an appropriate meal to a student with special dietary needs such as, but not limited to, diabetes, provided these needs have been documented in a health plan, Sec 504, or IEP.  If the meal is medically required, and the student has a negative student meal account balance, or does not have cash to purchase the meal, the necessary dietary needs will be met.

To request meal accommodations for students whose dietary needs qualify them for accommodation under law or to file a school meal program complaint with the District, contact the school’s health office or School Food and Nutrition Services at the District office for assistance.

To file a program complaint of discrimination with the USDA, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form.  To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992.  Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

(1) mail:          U.S. Department of Agriculture

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

(2) fax:            (202) 690-7442; or

(3) email:       program.intake@usda.gov.

This District is an equal opportunity provider.

E.   Nondiscrimination

It is the District's policy that in the operation of child feeding programs, no child will be discriminated against because of race, sex, color, national origin, age, or disability.  7 C.F.R. 245.5(a)(1)(viii).  Students will not be denied meals due to the existence of other unpaid charges at the school or for disciplinary reasons.

F.    Assessment for Neglect Reporting

If a student who has been determined to be ineligible for free or reduced cost meals or whose parents have refused to cooperate with filing an application for free or reduced cost meals is consistently not provided with meals, either through a meal sent from home or the payment for a meal through the school meal program, the Principal will assess whether a report of child neglect is warranted to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division for Children, Youth, & Families, as required by RSA 169-C:29-31.

History: Revised from 01/25/2016, 06/24/2019

First Reading, Policy Committee: June 5, 2024

Second Reading and BOSC Adoption: June 24, 2024