Charge Policy

The goal of the Franklin County School District is to provide student access to nutritious no- or low-cost meals each school day. However, unpaid charges place a large financial burden on our school. The purpose of this policy is to insure compliance with federal requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program, and to provide oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances.   The intent of this policy is to establish procedures to address unpaid meal charges throughout the Franklin County School District.  The provisions of this policy pertain to regular priced school breakfast and lunch meals only. The Franklin County School District provides this policy as a courtesy to those students in the event that they forget or lose their lunch money.  Charging of items outside of the reimbursable meals (a la carte items, adult meals, etc.) is expressly prohibited.

• Free Meal Benefit - Free eligible students will be allowed to receive a free breakfast and lunch each day.   A la carte purchases must be paid/prepaid.
• Reduced Meal Benefit - Reduced eligible students will be allowed to receive a breakfast and lunch each day. There will be no cost to the student for a reduced priced breakfast or lunch. A la carte purchases must be paid/ prepaid.
  • Full Pay Students – Current meal prices can be found in the student handbook. Middle School and High School students are not allowed to charge meals.  Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary students will be allowed to charge a maximum of $20.00 to their account. The charge meals offered to students will be reimbursable meals that are available to all students. Students will not be allowed to charge any meals in May so that all negative balances can be collected by the end of the school year. When available, donated funds can be used to pay for meals for students who do not have money to cover the cost of their meal.
    • Parents/Guardians are responsible for meal payment to the food service program. Discreet notices of low or deficit balances will be sent to parents/guardians at regular intervals during the school year. If the charge limit is reached, the debt is considered delinquent. The cafeteria secretary, managers, cashiers or administrator will make phone calls to parents of children who reach the limit to notify them of the delinquent debt status and make arrangements for payment.
• Students/Parents/Guardians are encouraged to pay for meals in advance with a check payable to Franklin County School Cafeteria. Cash payments are also accepted. Payments may be sent in an envelope with the amount of the payment and the child’s name and lunch number written on the envelope.  Parents may also bring money to the cafeteria or cafeteria office.  Funds should be maintained in accounts to minimize the possibility that a child may be without meal money on any given day. Any remaining funds for a particular student will be carried over to the next school year.
• If financial hardship exists, parents and families are encouraged to apply for free or reduced priced meals for their child. If financial or household circumstances change during the school year a new lunch application may be completed at any time during the school year.  Please call the school foodservice administrator at 601-384-5196 for assistance or questions.