Prices, Payments, Refunds

Student Meal Accounts

Upon enrollment with the district, a personal lunch account is generated for each student. Funds may be deposited into your student's account which is only accessible by a PIN (or keypad) number assigned specifically to him or her. This account works like a debit account and funds should be available before your student may purchase a breakfast, a lunch, or other a la carte item.

Parents may view the current school year's purchase history and balance of the student's account on Skyward Family Access.

USD 232 Student Nutrition Charging Policy 

The district’s meal charging requirements are as follows. A charge account for students paying full or reduced price for meals may be established with the district.  Students may charge no more than $15.00 for the purchase of meals to this account without triggering the district’s delinquent debt proceedings as outlined in this policy. Charging of a la carte or extra items to this account will not be permitted.  Adults will not be allowed to charge meals or a la carte items.

When the charge levels identified in this policy have been met, a student’s meal account becomes delinquent. The student will be allowed to purchase a meal if the student pays for the meal when it is received. Students who have delinquent accounts and cannot pay out of pocket for a meal will be provided a regular, reimbursable meal from the cafeteria menu, which shall be charged to the student’s account while the district proceeds with attempts to resolve the delinquent debt with the student’s parent or guardian.

A student’s parent or guardian will receive multiple written notices once a student account reaches a negative amount. At least one verbal notification shall be provided to a student’s parent or guardian prior to reaching the delinquent debt threshold outlined herein. Access to this policy will be provided to the student’s parent or guardian with the written notice. If payment of the negative balance is not received before the balance reaches $-25.00, the debt will be turned over to building administration. At least one verbal and/or written notification will be provided to the student’s parent or guardian from building administration. If payment of the negative balance is not received before the balance reaches $-30.00, the debt will be turned over to the superintendent or their designee.

If payment of the negative balance is not received by the time a student leaves USD 232 (i.e., graduation, transfer out of district), the debt shall be considered bad debt for the purposes of federal law concerning unpaid meal charges.

Payments for school meals may be made at the school or district office or online.  Students, parents, and guardians of students are encouraged to prepay meal costs.

The district will provide a copy of this unpaid meal charges policy to all households at or before the start of school each year and to families and students that transfer into the district at the time of transfer.  The terms of this policy will also be communicated to all district staff responsible for enforcing any aspect of the policy.  Records of how and when it is communicated to households and staff will be retained. 

Meal Account Payment Methods

Funds in student accounts can be used to purchase breakfast, lunch, and a la carte items. Parents or guardians may deposit funds into their student's account through the following methods:

• Personal check or cash sent in with student to the school. Make all personal checks out to 
  "Your Student's School Building - Student Nutrition" (example: Horizon Elementary - Student Nutrition). Please list your child's full name in the memo line.
• e~Funds online payment with credit card or bank account. Through Skyward Family Access or the link below, you may submit an online payment. Once a payment is accepted through e~Funds, it is posted to your student's account in real time. To ensure funds are available in your student's account, we recommend that all online payments be submitted at least 24 hours before funds are needed.

If paying by personal check or cash, you may combine payments for siblings in the same building. Separate checks are necessary for students in different buildings due to accounting systems.

• Example 1: Two brothers at Riverview may submit one check to the cafeteria. Be sure to indicate the amount requested for each student's account in the memo line.
• Example 2: Two sisters with one at Starside Elementary, one at Lexington Trails Middle School. Two separate checks must be sent to the schools - one with each student - for payment on each lunch account.

Students may not use other student's accounts (including siblings' accounts) to pay for meals or a la carte purchases. If you would like to request a transfer from one sibling's account to another, please contact the lead cashier in your student's building. Visit our Contact Us page for ways to contact individual school cashiers.

Returned Checks / Payments

Our banking partners will typically submit a check at least two times for payment. In the event a personal check is returned for insufficient funds, the amount of the check will be deducted from your student's lunch account. The Student Nutrition office will also contact the parent or guardian via email and/or letter. 

In the event that an e~Funds payment is returned for insufficient funds or other transaction errors, funds will deducted from your student's lunch account effective on the original date of payment. The Student Nutrition office will also contact the parent or guardian via email and/or letter.

In either case, prompt payment to replace any necessary funds is expected at the time of notification.