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LSR7 2023 Food Service Management Policy

Policy EF : FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT

Administrative Form EF-AF(1) : FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT - (Nondiscrimination in School Nutrition Programs)

All students that attend Lee's Summit R 7 are provided the opportunity to purchase meals at each school cafeteria in accordance with the National School Lunch/Breakfast Program. The following guidelines shall be followed in the instance that a student finds it necessary to charge their meal due to a lack of funds in his/her account.

Parents/guardians are solely responsible for providing their children with meals, either through money to purchase meals at school or by packing a meal from home. If for any reason a parent/guardian cannot afford to provide a meal for their child, they can apply for Free and Reduced meal benefits. A hard copy application may be printed from our district website at: www.leessummitschoolnutrition.com. Applications (in most languages) are available. A household may also apply for free and reduced meals online at: www.heartlandapps.com.

Parents/guardians are encouraged to deposit money in their student's meal account by accessing our nutrition online payment portal at: www.myschoolbucks.com to make sure adequate money is readily available to purchase school meals. This will eliminate the need
for parents/guardians to send money with the child each day. Parents/guardians can also deposit money by sending a check or cash directly to the school or with their student in an envelope with the student's ID number, name and amount of deposit.

Notice

At the beginning of each school year, a copy of this procedure will be provided to every parent/guardian in the district as required by law. In addition, a copy of this procedure, along with information about free and reduced-price school meals, will be provided to the parents/guardians of all students who enroll after the beginning of the school year.

A copy of this procedure will also be provided to all building administrators, staff responsible for collecting payment for meals at the point of service, staff involved with notifying parents/guardians about account balances, school social workers, nurses, counselors, the district liaison for homeless children and youths, and any other staff who regularly assist students in need.

Employees

Employees will not be allowed to charge meals.

Interventions

The district will provide the following notifications when a student reaches specific unpaid meal charges:
1. After a student accumulates $5.00 of unpaid meal charges, School Messenger will notify household of negative account balances not more than two times per week.
2. Nutrition Services will provide administration a list of student charges on a weekly basis.

District employees are mandated by the state of Missouri to report any instances of suspected abuse or neglect to the Children's Division (CD) of the Department of Social Services. District personnel will report to the CD any instance where a student's arrival at
school with no provision for food leads to a reasonable cause to suspect neglect. Additionally, the district will provide the following interventions via the principal and/or counselor:
1. Meet with the student to assess to the extent possible whether the student or the student's family is experiencing hardships, barriers or other circumstances with which the principal or counselor could assist.
2. Make repeated attempts to contact the parents/guardians to inquire about any assistance that might be needed to complete the free and reduced price meals application, discuss the situation and any other concerns the principal or counselor may have after meeting with the student, provide other resources as applicable and resolve the situation.
3. Provide other resources as applicable.

Notifications to Parents/Guardians

The district will provide timely notification to parents/guardians when account balances run low (when applicable) and when account balances include unpaid charges. Parents can sign up for free at www.myschoolbucks.com to receive emails for low balances.

Debt Collection

Delinquent Debt

Unpaid meal charges will be considered a delinquent debt 90 days after notice that charges are due when no payment or payment plan agreement has been made. Unpaid charges will be considered delinquent as long as the district determines the debt is collectible and efforts to collect the debt are ongoing. The district will make reasonable efforts to collect delinquent debt, including turning over unpaid meal charge balances to a collection agency when the superintendent or designee determines such action is in the best interest of the district. The district's Nonprofit School Food Services Account (NSFSA) funds may be used to cover the costs of reasonable efforts to collect delinquent debt, including costs associated with using a collection agency.

Bad Debt

When the district determines that collection of delinquent debt is impossible or too costly, the debt will be reclassified as bad debt. Bad debt is debt that will be written off as an operating cost. These costs must be restored using nonfederal funds. NSFSA resources
may not be used to cover any costs related to bad debt. Instead, local funds will be used to cover the costs.

End of Year Negative Balances

By law, Nutrition Services is not allowed to pay for bad debt. Therefore, each school will pay for their student's outstanding meal charges at the end of each year. Parents may be required to re pay the school when the following year enrollment is conducted.

Donations

The district accepts donations from individuals or groups to help students and their families clear delinquent meal debt. Except as provided in policy KH, donations for delinquent meal debt can be made to the Nutrition Services Angel Fund or to individual schools. Donations are accepted at Nutrition Services (702 SE 291 Highway, Lee's Summit, MO 64063) or at the school cafeteria.

Refunds

Any student accounts with positive balances at the end of the school year will be automatically carried over to the next school year. If requested, the balances will be refunded to the account owner. Students who will be graduating or have left the district will have account balances refunded to the account owner or transferred to another student account at the request of the account owner.

Requests for refunds should be submitted to:
Nutrition Services
702 SE 291 Highway
Lee's Summit, MO 64063
Telephone: 816.986.2200.

Unclaimed Funds

All refunds must be requested within 90 calendar days of the last day of the current school year. Unclaimed funds (under $5.00) for graduated seniors will be refunded at each school's cafeteria prior to the last day of the regular school year. Unclaimed funds $5.00 or greater for graduated seniors will be refunded by the district during the month of June, annually. After 90 calendar days from the last day of the current school year, unclaimed funds of students no longer enrolled, become the property of the Lee's Summit R 7 School
Nutrition Services Angel Fund.

Records

The district will maintain detailed records pertaining to delinquent and bad debt, including:
1. Evidence of efforts to collect unpaid meal charges.
2. Evidence that collection efforts fell within the time frame and methods established by this procedure.
3. Financial records showing when delinquent debt became bad debt.
4. Evidence that funds written off as bad debt were restored to the NSFSA from nonfederal sources.

Nondiscrimination Statement

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs (including the district), are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by the USDA. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the agency (state or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may
contact the USDA through the Federal Relay Service at 800 877 8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form (AD 3027) found online at https://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to the USDA and provide in the letter all the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call 866-632 9992. Submit your completed form or letter to the USDA by:
1. Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250 9410;
2. Fax: 202-690 7442; or
3. E-mail: program.intake@usda.gov.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.