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Community Corner

Schools Crack Down on Overdue Lunch Money

Before school starts, make sure your child's meal account is paid up—or it's cheese sandwiches until you do.

Last year, students racked up $2,500 in overdue lunch money in the first week of school, according to Food Service Ad Hoc Committee Chair Kevin Scarpati. To make sure that doesn’t happen this year, Meriden schools are getting stricter about allowing children to charge school lunches.

Elementary School Rules
If your elementary-age child owes $12.50 or more, she or he will not be allowed to charge a $2.50 hot lunch. Instead, the child can charge an alternative meal consisting of a cheese sandwich, a piece of fruit, juice and milk for the same price. Elementary students will be able to continue charging breakfast to their accounts, however.

Middle and High School Rules
In the past, middle and high school students were allowed to charge a hot lunch on the first five days of school regardless of how much debt they carried over from the previous year. Not anymore. If middle school students don’t have the money for hot lunch, they will only be allowed to charge a cheese sandwich meal. They will not be allowed to charge breakfast at all if they can’t pay for it up front.

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Meriden Schools Food Service Manager Susan Maffé urges parents to make sure their school meal accounts are up to date before school starts on August 29th to save their children from embarrassment.

“Our goal is to get the parents to take responsibility for their children's accounts, not to punish the child,” she insists. But the school system simply can’t afford to let the debt pile up.

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Since the cheese sandwich policy was fully implemented on November 1, 2010, only $845 in debt has been accrued, Maffé reports. The previous school year saw more than $30,000 in debt from unpaid school meals, according to a Food Services Ad Hoc Committee report.

Apply for Free/Reduced-Price Meals
To keep debt in check and to help struggling Meriden parents cut costs, Maffé also encourages families to apply for free or reduced-price school meals if they are eligible. Applications are available on the schools website (www.meriden.k12.ct.us/Content/Food_Services.asp). They must be filled out every year, Maffé stresses. The federal government subsidizes meals for those in need at no cost to the school system. The number of students receiving free/reduced-price meals can also help qualify the schools for grants and other funding opportunities, she points out.

To Replenish Your Child’s Account
You can put money into your child’s account using cash, check, money order or an online MealPay Plus account (www.MealPayPlus.com). MealPay Plus lets you check your child’s account balance, replenish the funds and keep track of the foods your child purchases. The account can even send you an email alert when your balance is getting low. There is no cost to set up an account.

Parents with questions or concerns about their child’s food service account or applying for free/reduced-price lunch should call the Food Services Department between 8am and 4pm Monday through Friday at (203) 630-4166.

2011–2012 School Meal Prices
Breakfast:  Elementary $0.80, Middle $1.10, High $1.25, Reduced $0.30
Lunch: Elementary $2.50, Middle $2.65, High $2.75, Reduced $0.40

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