Unpaid Meal Charge Policy

It is the goal of the Nutrition department at Salt Lake Academy to offer the best possible meals to our students and staff. These meals should comply with USDA standards for nutrition as well as be tasty and interesting. The following policy is to set guidelines for collecting payment so we can continue to serve these meals to our students and staff. 

PAYMENT

 1. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their student has sufficient funds in their meal account. 

2. Meals can be paid for electronically by going online to EZschoolpay.com and selecting lunch account under the parent tab. Payment by cash or check may also be made in the front office. 

 3. The school may choose not to accept personal checks from parents who have previously provided a check that was returned from their bank for any reason, including insufficient funds. 

4. If a student qualifies for free meals, no payments are due for the reimbursable meal. Parents must pay for any meals charged to their child’s account prior to qualifying for free/reduced meals. Parents who qualify for free/reduced meals are responsible to pay for any extra milk and/or juice. 

SERVING STUDENTS WITH NEGATIVE MEAL ACCOUNT BALANCES 

1. A student shall not be denied a reimbursable meal based solely on the student’s meal account being delinquent or containing insufficient funds to pay for the meal. 

2. School staff will exercise sensitivity and confidentiality in serving students with insufficient funds or delinquent meal accounts. Employees should communicate with parents about insufficient funds or delinquent meal accounts and should generally avoid communicating with students about their accounts. Employees shall not subject a student to embarrassment or ridicule based on the student’s meal account balance. 

3. The names or other identifying information of students eligible to receive free or reduced price meals shall not be published or posted in any manner, and there shall be no overt identification of any such students by any means. 

4. A student shall not be denied a meal as a form of discipline. 

COLLECTION OF DELINQUENT MEAL ACCOUNTS 

1. Parents using EZschoolpay.com online payment system may set up automatic payments to be made to the student’s meal account.

 2. If a student’s account balance reaches zero (0), he/she will not be denied a meal for insufficient funds. A student account with insufficient funds to pay for a meal will continue to be charged each time the student receives a meal, thus incurring a negative balance owed and becoming delinquent. A delinquent meal account is a debt owed by the student’s parents that can be collected by Salt Lake Academy. 

3. At least once every month the Salt Lake Academy Child Nutrition Department will contact the parents of all students whose meal account is delinquent. The Child Nutrition department will keep a correspondence file, whether paper or electronic, of their interactions and conversations with parents with delinquent accounts. This file will be provided to the school Director. 

4. The school will contact the parent of a student whose meal account balance shows a debt of $30.00 or more. 

5. The school will send written notice to the parent of a student or former student whose meal account balance shows a negative balance of $50.00 or more. The School will inform the parent that student should bring lunch from home until the balance 

The Child Nutrition Department and the school at which a debt is accrued shall work together to determine when to designate a delinquent account as bad debt and cease collection efforts, in compliance with federal laws and regulations regarding bad debt and cease collection efforts, in compliance with federal laws and regulations regarding bad debt as defined by the USDA. The internal transfer of funds between a school and the Child Nutrition Department does not extinguish or satisfy debts owed by parents to the school and a delinquent account remains collectable until the Child Nutrition Department and school designate it as bad debt under USDA regulations.

Costs incurred from unpaid meal charges may not be absorbed by the Nonprofit School Food Service Account and must instead be restored using non-Federal funds. These funds may come from the school’s general fund, special funding from State or local governments, and other non-federal sources including local contributions provided by community organizations or individuals. The Director of Finance will transfer school funds to the Child Nutrition Department in the amount owed.

CONSEQUENCES OF DELINQUENT MEAL ACCOUNTS 

Schools may deny certain privileges to students whose meal account balances are delinquent. For example, a student with delinquent meal charges may be denied the opportunity to:

 ● Participate in graduation ceremonies 

● Participate in extracurricular activities including field trips, sports, dances, etc. 

● Receive a yearbook