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Ogdensburg City Schools recover most of money owed under lunch charge program

Posted 10/19/16

By THOMAS LUCKIE III OGDENSBURG -- The Ogdensburg City School District's school lunch meal charge policy has recovered $12,541.52 of a possible $13,864.20 since the policy went into effect on May 17, …

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Ogdensburg City Schools recover most of money owed under lunch charge program

Posted

By THOMAS LUCKIE III

OGDENSBURG -- The Ogdensburg City School District's school lunch meal charge policy has recovered $12,541.52 of a possible $13,864.20 since the policy went into effect on May 17, 2015.

District School Lunch Manager Brian Mitchell presented information at Monday's Board of Education meeting.

"This is a policy that we hit right on," Mitchell said.

The meal charge policy, although not required by law, was established by the board due to the district's participation in the Child Nutrition Program.

Under the policy, students who may forget meal money are allowed to "charge" the cost of meals to be paid back at a later date.

Students in grades K-6 are allowed to charge up to six lunches and three breakfasts. Food Service Workers then fill out a charge slip to be placed in the teacher's mailbox and sent home with the student. Students in grades 7-12 are allowed to charge three lunches and one breakfast. The secondary students are given a slip to take home when a meal is charged.

After a student of any age accumulates three charges, their parents or guardians are notified via telephone.

Once the maximum amount of charges has been reached, students are given an alternative meal consisting of a "Breakfast Break," which contains fruit juice, a grain product and white milk.

Parents or guardians are then mailed letters and receive another telephone call when the maximum limit has been reached. The student is then responsible for bringing lunch money or a lunch from home.

Mitchell stated that the district has been willing to work with both students and parents in some instances.

"At first we were maybe too strict," he said. "We have been lenient, it seems to be working pretty well."