Effective July 1, 2017, Tahoma School District is required to implement a meal charge policy and communicate to families and school staff how it will handle situations where children have insufficient funds to pay for school meals. Per USDA regulations, the meal charge policy must be communicated at the beginning of each school year to prevent confusion for families and school staff and to promote effective financial management of the school meal programs. School meal programs aim to provide nutritious meals to students during the school day. Students may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them if they are eligible for Free/Reduced-Price Meals. Children who do not qualify for free meals may purchase meals at a subsidized cost, at either the reduced price or paid rate. Parents/Guardians are responsible for paying for all school meals served to their child(ren) including meals that were served prior to qualifying for free or reduced-price meals.
Charging Limits
Students who do not have money in their cafeteria account or in hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of meal service may charge for meals. The debit floor is $21.25 for students in grades K–5, and $25 for students in grades 6–12.
Negative Balance Notification
During the school year, the District will notify families weekly via ParentSquare when their child has a negative balance. School food service professionals are required to keep low and negative balances confidential. Therefore, the District may not enlist the assistance of unauthorized persons such as parent volunteers to follow up with payment reminders and debt collection. The food services office staff communicates account balances and payment reminders directly to parents/guardians over the phone or via email.
Debt Collection
The District is required to maintain records related to meal charging, debt collection and bad debt. Negative balances remain on students’ accounts until they are paid off. Negative balances must be paid off by the end of each school year. Unpaid meal charges may not be carried over to the next school year. Food Services will provide meal statements including payments and purchases on request. Official transcripts for seniors may be withheld until outstanding fees, fines and negative cafeteria balances are paid off.
Refunds
Families may request a refund of funds remaining in their child’s cafeteria account. Please email your refund request to foodservicehelp@tahomasd.us. Alternatively, families may choose to donate the funds remaining in their child's food service account.
Donations
Food Services accepts donations from families and community members to help pay for regular meals for students with insufficient funds. Donations are used to pay off or pay down negative account balances, based on the community member’s request. Please contact the food services office at (425) 413-3450 with questions related to donations for student accounts with insufficient funds.
Purchases and Account Balances
Parents/guardians may access their child’s cafeteria account online through Skyward Family Access. Parents may choose to select low balance notification in Skyward Family Access when the balance in their child’s account is positive but low. Please contact your child’s school registrar if you need assistance to create your user name and password required to access Skyward Family Access.
