Greenwood School District
Cafeteria Charge Policy
Effective 7/09/20
- On a weekly basis, reminders will either be emailed or mailed to the parents of all students with a negative cafeteria balance. When the students reach a negative balance of 5 meals or $12, the cafeteria director will make at least 2 attempts to contact the parents to make them aware of their balance and to offer them the free/reduced lunch application to apply for benefits. The cafeteria manager will document each week who she has contacted and if it was successful.
- When the student’s balance reaches a negative $100, the business manager will then contact the parents for collection. At that point, the cafeteria POS, stops adding charges to the child’s account. The district will not deny the child a meal and will not make them eat an alternate meal. No ala carte items will be allowed to be purchased if the child’s balance is negative. The business manager will offer a payment plan for the unpaid charges and give the parents reasonable time to make payment on the account. A phone contact will first be made and if the business manager is able to speak with the parent, she will give them 2 weeks to make a payment in full or a partial payment if a payment plan is set up. If no phone contact is able to be made, then a letter will be sent out giving 2 weeks to make payment. If no payments are made after 2 weeks, then a letter will be sent home requesting payment again within 2 weeks. If after the 2nd attempt, no payment is made, then a certified letter will be sent giving the parent another 2 weeks to make payment and if it is not received, the debt will be considered uncollectible. If donated funds from outside organizations are available, these funds may be used to the cover the debt. Once the debt is deemed uncollectible, it will be transferred out of the cafeteria fund and into the general fund for collection. The business manager will send the unpaid debt to JP Harris Associates for collection.