In accordance with the United States Department of Agriculture regulations, Upper Moreland School District is required to have and enforce a Meal Charge Policy. A “meal charge” refers to those times that a student attempts to purchase foods without sufficient funding in their food service account. At any time, you may check the balance of your child’s account by registering for free at SchoolCafe.

The purpose of these procedures is to establish consistent meal account procedures throughout the District. Unpaid charges place a financial strain on the food service department. The goals of this standard of practice are:

• To ensure that students have a nutritious meal and that no child goes hungry.

• To treat all students with dignity and confidentiality in the serving line regarding meal accounts.

• To foster clear, positive communication among staff, administrators, teachers, students and parents/guardians.

• To establish fair practices that can be used consistently throughout the District regarding meal charges and the collection of charges.

• To encourage parent/guardian to assume the responsibility of meal payments and to promote self-responsibility of their child/student.

• A copy of this meal charge procedure shall be distributed annually to the parent/guardian of each student enrolled within the District at or before the beginning of each school year and to every parent/guardian of a student who transfers into the District during the school year.

• A copy of this meal charge procedure shall also be distributed annually to any District staff member who may be responsible for its implementation. 

• To the extent practicable and as described in further detail herein, a student’s meal status is kept confidential.

• The Food Service Department, Business Office, and Student Services: Responsible for maintaining charge records and notifying the students’ parent/guardian.

• The Parent/Guardian: Immediate payments and if applicable, apply for free and reduced program.

In the event that a student, who is not receiving free and reduced price meals (as described below), must charge a meal, the student account will continue to debit full price for each meal. In this instance, students will only be allowed full, reimbursable meals which include an entrée, milk, fruit and/or vegetable. However, no student will be denied a school meal due to insufficient funds. No charges are allowed for extras or a la carte food on any negative account or accounts with a zero balance. 

• A meal can only be denied if the student’s parent/guardian has directed the school, in writing, to withhold meals from the student. Parent/Guardians must write these restrictions to the Food Service Director at 509 Davisville Road, Willow Grove, PA 19090. In some cases, the principal will make the determination if the student should still receive a meal and override this restriction. In these cases, the account will be charged and the parent/guardian will be notified that the student was given and charged a meal.

• For grades kindergarten through eighth grade, all communications regarding money owed by the student for school meals must be made to the parent/guardian. For students enrolled in grades ninth through twelfth, schools may discretely and individually direct communication regarding lunch account balances to the
  student.

• Students may deliver communications in letter form, addressed to the parents/guardians in a sealed envelope labeled “Confidential”. Letters will not be handed to students in the lunch line in an effort to prevent stigmatization

• Meals served to students should not be removed or exchanged as a result of overdrawn cafeteria accounts or free/reduced status. If a student has a restriction per parent written request on the account to the District, food can be removed from the child at the register.

• The District shall make at least two (2) attempts to reach the student’s parent/guardian after the student accrues an unpaid account balance of five (5) meals prior to proceeding with any procedure to collect
  delinquent debt.

• In addition, if a family accumulates a total debt (food services and/or other balances owed to Upper Moreland School District) over $200 per family, and the District has made at least two (2) attempts to reach the student’s parent/guardian as described above, the information will be sent to a collection agency. No student will be denied a meal and no disciplinary action will be taken as a result of the outstanding balance exceeding $200.

• Weekly notices for negative account balances will be emailed or sent home by the food service department to the parents/guardians. Information regarding how to apply for free and reduced meals will be included in these notifications.

• Parents/Guardians shall be communicated with once the student meal account goes into the negative through the Upper Moreland School District Emergency Notification System.

• No student who owes money or does not have money for a school meal will be publicly identified, stigmatized or be required to do work or do chores or other work when they cannot pay or have a negative student meal account balance.

• Students will only be made aware that they may not purchase a la carte items if they have a negative balance and try to purchase an a la carte item. In this instance, students will be offered an alternate option of a full meal instead. Snacks and water are considered a la carte items and are not included with a meal in accordance with the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs; they are an additional charge for all levels of meal credits, paid, free or reduced.

• All outstanding debts must be paid prior to graduation and will follow a high school graduating student’s debt collection procedures. The list of students with outstanding debt will be sent to the High School office prior to distribution of caps and gowns and payment toward outstanding debts will be collected by the High School Main Office. The District may restrict privileges or activities of students who owe money for school meals to the same extent that restrictions apply to students who owe money for other school-related purposes.

After the food services department has completed the necessary actions in attempt to collect the outstanding balances as indicated under the K12 Delinquent Accounts section of these procedures and the outstanding debt has been uncollectable for more than one complete school year, it is considered “bad debt.” The bad debt will be charged to the General Fund of the School District and that money will be paid to Food Service from the General Fund. By July 15th of each year, Food Service will give the total of Bad Debt that has been uncollectable for more than 1 school year to the Business Office so the General Fund can cover these totals.

*Note: Please replenish accounts before they go into the negative. Allow 24 hours for online payments to process and up to three school operating days for checks to be added to a student account due to processing
and handling.

If you think your child may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals, please submit a school meal application. You may do this at any time during the school year. Applications can be easily filled out online at
SchoolCafe. Paper applications are available at all school main offices during regular school hours. Paper applications are also available online on the Food Services page on UMTSD.

You must apply each year to be considered for free or reduced-price meals. Even if your child received free or reduced-price meals last year, you must submit a new application this year. Carryover of eligibility is only
available up to the first 30 school days (excludes weekends, holidays and days off). If an application for the new school year is not on file and/or application processed but denied, the student will be automatically
removed from the free/reduced program on the 31st day of school.

It is important to us that all eligible children receive free or reduced-price school meals. We are happy to help you complete the application. If you have any questions or need help, please contact the food service
department at 215-830-1522.

Upper Moreland Food Service has many simple payment options for you to choose from. No matter which payment option you choose, please remember the current negative balance must be paid as soon as possible.

• Pay Online: Make an online payment to your child’s account using your credit or debit card at SchoolCafe. Minimum payment online is $20.00 and there is a 5% transaction fee to use the online payment system. Autopay and low-balance reminder options are available through schoolcafe.com.

• Pay By Mail: Send a check to Upper Moreland Food Service at 509 Davisville Road, Willow Grove, PA 19090. Checks should be made payable to Upper Moreland Food Service. Please include your child’s name and student ID number on the memo line of the check.

• Send in an envelope to school: Send in payment with your child in a clearly marked envelope with your Childs name and marked for Cafeteria to pay by cash or a check. Checks should be made payable to
  Upper Moreland Food Service. Please include your child’s name and student ID number with all payments.

After paying back your debt, we encourage you to create a “safety net” for your child. Pre-paying for your child’s meals is a simpler way of managing their account, and prevents unpaid meal charges. Paying for meals before the meal service also helps lunch lines move more quickly, giving children more time to enjoy their meal. In schoolcafe.com, you can choose autopay once the account reaches a certain limit as well as receive notification of low balances and transfer funds between children’s accounts.

Positive balances for all returning students will be automatically carried over to the next school year. Parents/guardians may request a refund at any time as well as at graduation, when leaving the District or under special circumstances. In such instances, the “Refund Request” google form on the Food Services page of the umtsd.org website must be completed or through schoolcafe.com by selecting the refund request option.

Parents/guardians of graduating students or students who transfer out of the District prior to graduation have the option to request a refund, balance transfer to another sibling or to donate the balance of the remaining funds to the District’s nonprofit school food service account, regardless of the amount. Written correspondence which provides parents/guardians of graduating and transferring students with the option to: (a) initiate a refund, (b) transfer their account balances, or (c) donate their account balances, shall be provided to graduating seniors during the week prior to graduation and to transferring students within a reasonable period of time after receiving notice of the student’s intent to transfer.

Refunds shall be issued if no response is received from the parents/guardians of graduating/transferring students at least five (5) days prior to the conclusion of the current fiscal year within which the student graduates/transfers.

Every effort will be made to return funds to households that do not opt to donate remaining funds or have a sibling to transfer funds to. If the District’s efforts to contact a student’s household to return the remaining
funds is unsuccessful, the District must comply with the requirements set forth in Pennsylvania’s Unclaimed Property Law, 72 P.S. §§ 1301.1 et seq., for any positive dollar value remaining in the student’s account.

The option to donate shall be presented to every graduating/transfer student, in writing, regardless of the student’s account balance. If a student’s household chooses to donate the remaining balance, the District may apply the donated funds consistently to all children regardless of their eligibility status.

In addition to the above-described donation procedures related to reimbursement requests. Donations received through private parties will be deposited into a separate food services account. These donations will be used to assist in paying for school meals as recommended by the School Districts Homeless Liaison, Guidance Counselors, Psychologists or Administrator.

Families will be notified of the Districts’ Meal Charge Policy in writing before the school year begins and with each new student. The policy will also be posted on the Food Service website UMTSD

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

1. mail:
   U.S. Department of Agriculture
   Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
   1400 Independence Avenue, SW
   Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or

2. fax:
   (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

3. email:
   Program.Intake@usda.gov

 This institution is an equal opportunity provider.