Adopted: June 2017
Revised: July 2025
Download 710.2.2AR - School Meals and Unpaid Meal Charges
1. Purpose - The purpose of this regulation is to establish consistent district practices for the provision of meals to students, to address circumstances in which students have insufficient funds in their school meal accounts and to describe school district practices regarding the collection of unpaid school meal account debt.
2. General Statement of Policy
2.1 District 196’s goal is to provide nutritious meals to students in a respectful manner to promote healthy eating habits and enhance learning as well as maintain the financial integrity of the school nutrition program and eliminate stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for a la carte items or second meals.
2.2 District 196 offers breakfast and/or lunch meals that meet state and federal guidelines. District 196 participates in the Minnesota Free Schools Meals program which allows each student to receive one breakfast and one lunch free of charge.
2.3 Households may apply for educational benefits which, when approved, provides families with access to certain reduced price or free educational benefits. Applications can be completed anytime during the school year. The online application and instructions for how to apply are available on the District 196 website year-round. The educational benefits application is also available by request from the District 196 Nutrition Services Department. District 196 distributes detailed instructions on how to apply online during the summer. If a household does not qualify for educational benefits, it may reapply anytime during the school year if it experiences a decrease in household income, an increase in the size of the household, experiences unemployment, has a newly placed foster child or is approved for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP,” formerly Food Stamps), the Minnesota Family Investment Program (“MFIP”) or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (“FDPIR”) benefits.
2.4 A summary of this regulation will be given to the households of enrolled students on an annual basis.
3. Charge Policy
3.1 Parents or guardians are responsible for all purchases made by their child Unpaid charges place a financial burden on the District 196 budget.
3.2 Educational benefits do not include a la carte items, second breakfasts or lunches, and/or milk purchased separately. Students with an overdrawn account are not allowed to charge a la carte items or second breakfast or lunches.
3.3 Meals Nutrition program purchases may be paid for online by making electronic deposits to a student’s school meal account through the District 196 electronic payment system, or payments may be sent to school with the student.
3.4 Students eligible for educational benefits will always be served a regular school meal regardless of unpaid school meal accounts whether attributable to a la carte purchases or any other reason.
3.5 When a student has “cash in hand” to pay for an item, the student will be permitted to purchase the item regardless of unpaid school meal accounts. The “cash in hand” will not be applied towards past due balances.
3.6 A student may purchase a second breakfast if the student has already selected a free breakfast. A student may purchase a second lunch if the student has already selected a free lunch. The first regular school meal in a lunch or breakfast period will not be taken away from a student whether or not the student has an overdrawn account, but a student with an overdrawn account will not be permitted to charge a second school breakfast or lunch.
4. Notification of Account Status and Collection of Unpaid Meal Debt – The Nutrition Services Department will work proactively with parents/guardians to keep them informed of their students’ balances. Households will be made aware of school meal account balances and attempted collection will occur in the following manner:
4.1 Households can check their student’s school meal account balance using the District 196 electronic payment system via the student portal or by contacting the Nutrition Services Department for account balances. Parents may elect to set “low balance” school meal account alerts to their email account when using the District 196 electronic payment system.
4.2 When a student has a low or negative balance, notification to the student’s parent or guardian and subsequent debt collection efforts will occur as follows:
4.2.1 Once a student’s school meal account balance reaches a balance negative $10, the Nutrition Services Department will attempt to make contact with the parent or guardian informing them that payment is required.
4.2.2 If payment has not been made after the initial contact in section 4.2.1, and the charge of an additional $5 is added to the deficit, the Nutrition Services manager will contact the parent and guardian again and inform the school principal.
4.2.3 Once a student’s school meal account is overdrawn in the amount of negative $20 the building principal or designee will send a letter home to the parent/guardian requesting payment. The school principal or designee will consider whether the parent/guardian needs assistance, including assistance completing an application for educational benefits.
4.2.4 If no payment is made following the exhaustion of collection efforts, District 196 may refer the matter to a collection agency.
4.3 Reminders for payment of outstanding balances on student school meal accounts will be done with parents or guardians. Collection of unpaid meal debt will be done in a manner that does not demean or stigmatize any student participating in the school meal program, including but not limited to dumping meals, withdrawing a meal that has been served, announcing or listing students’ names publicly, or affixing stickers, stamps, or pins. Schools must not impose any other restriction prohibited under Minnesota Statute 123B.37 due to unpaid student meal balances. Schools must not limit a student's participation in any school activities, graduation ceremonies, field trips, athletics, activity clubs, or other extracurricular activities or access to materials, technology, or other items provided to students due to an unpaid student meal balance.
References:
- Minnesota Statute 123B.37, Prohibited Fees
- Minnesota Statute 124D.111, School meals policies; lunch aid; food service
- 42 U.S.C. § 1751 et seq., Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act
- 7 C.F.R. § 210 et seq., School Lunch Program Regulations
- 7 C.F.R. § 220.8, School Breakfast Program Regulations
- USDA Policy Memorandum SP 46-2016, Unpaid Meal Charges: Local Meal Charge Policies (2016)
- USDA Policy Memorandum SP 47-2016, Unpaid Meal Charges: Clarification on Collection of Delinquent Meal Payments (2016)
- USDA Policy Memorandum SP 23-2017, Unpaid Meal Charges: Guidance and Q&A
- MSBA/MASA Model Policy 534, School Meals Policy