Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires school districts to provide written notice of meal charge procedures. Unless meals are provided at no charge, the district prefers students to pay for meals prior to receipt. The ability to charge meals is a privilege, not a right, and is subject to the limitations established in this procedure.

At the beginning of each school year, a copy of this procedure will be provided to every family in the district as required by law. A copy of this procedure will also be provided to all building administrators, staff responsible for collecting payment for meals at the point of service, staff involved with notifying families about account balances, social workers, nurses, counselors, the district liaison for homeless students, and any other staff who regularly assist students in need.

Students

• A student may not accumulate more than $32 in unpaid meal charges.
• A student may not charge à la carte items.
• A student with money in hand will not be denied a meal even if the student has past due charges.
• A student will not be identified, singled out, shamed or punished by the district for the failure of the family to pay for or provide meals, and the district will not withhold student records in violation of law.

Interventions

After a student accumulates five unpaid meal charges, the district will encourage the family to submit an application for free and reduced-price meals if an application has not been recently submitted, and the student will be referred to a counselor for intervention. The counselor will:

• Meet with the student to assess to the extent possible whether the student or the student's family is experiencing hardships, barriers or other circumstances with which the counselor could assist.
• Make repeated attempts to contact the family regarding lunch charges, discuss the situation and any other concerns the counselor may have after meeting with the student, and resolve the situation.
• Encourage the family to submit the free and reduced-price meals application and inquire about any assistance that might be needed to complete the application.
• Provide other resources as applicable.

District employees are mandated by the state of Missouri to report any instances of suspected abuse or neglect to the Children's Division of the Department of Social Services. District personnel will report any instance where a student's arrival at school with no provision for food leads to a reasonable cause to suspect neglect.

Working with Families

To ensure that families have ample opportunity to resolve situations involving unpaid meal charges, the district will:

• Provide weekly notification to families when account balances run low.
• Invoice families for unpaid meal charges during the district's monthly billing cycle, in addition to providing notification of outstanding balances by other means.
• Work with families to create a payment plan that allows for the payment of accumulated balances over time.

Debt Collection and Delinquent Debt

Unpaid meal charges will be considered a delinquent debt 90 days after notice that charges are due when no payment or payment plan agreement has been made. Unpaid charges will be considered delinquent as long as the district determines the debt is collectible and efforts to collect the debt are ongoing. The district will make reasonable efforts to collect delinquent debt, including turning over unpaid meal charge balances to a collection agency when the superintendent or designee determines such action is in the best interest of the district. The district's Nonprofit School Food Service Account (NSFSA) funds may be used to cover the costs of reasonable efforts to collect delinquent debt, including costs associated with using a collection agency.

Bad Debt

When the district determines that collection of delinquent debt is impossible or too costly, the debt will be reclassified as bad debt. Bad debt is debt that will be written off as an operating cost. These costs must be restored using nonfederal funds. NSFSA resources may not be used to cover any costs related to bad debt. Instead, local funds will be used to cover the costs. Local funds include:

• State revenue matching funds in excess of state revenue matching-fund requirements.
• State and local funds provided to cover the cost of student meals.
• Local contributions from organizations or individuals.
• Revenue from adult meals prepared using resources outside the district's food service and not funded by the NSFSA.
• Revenue from the sale of à la carte items and profits from foods not purchased with NSFSA funds and funded by an account separate from the NSFSA.
• Revenues from catering or contracting services that operate from an account separate from the NSFSA.

Records

The district will maintain detailed records pertaining to delinquent and bad debt, including:

• Evidence of efforts to collect unpaid meal charges.
• Evidence that collection efforts fell within the time frame and methods established by this procedure.
• Financial records showing when delinquent debt became bad debt.
• Evidence that funds written off as bad debt were restored to the NSFSA from nonfederal sources.