UNPAID MEAL CHARGES AND DELINQUENT DEBT
Meal Charges for Meals Provided by the District
The Building Principal and District staff will work jointly to prevent meal charges from accumulating. Every effort to collect all funds due to the District will be made on a regular basis and before the end of the school year. Contact your Building Principal or designee about whether your child(ren)'s charges may be carried over at the end of the school year, i.e., beyond June 30th .
Unpaid meal charges are considered delinquent debt when payment is overdue as defined by Board policy 4:45, Insufficient Fund Checks and Debt Recovery and the Hunger-Free Students' Bill of Rights Act (105 ILCS 123/). The District will make reasonable efforts to collect charges classified as delinquent debt, including repeated contacts to collect the amounts and, when necessary, requesting that the student's parent(s)/guardian(s) apply for meal benefits to determine if the student qualifies for such benefits under Board policy 4:130, Free and Reduced-Price Food Services. The District will provide a federally reimbursable meal or snack to a student who requests one, regardless of the student's ability to pay or negative account balance.
When a student’s funds are low and when there is a negative balance, reminders will be provided to the staff, students, and their parent(s)/guardian(s) at regular intervals during the school year. State law allows the Building Principal to contact parents(s)/guardian(s) to attempt collection of the owed money when the amount owed is more than the amount of five lunches. If a parent/guardian regularly fails to provide meal money for the child(ren) that he/she is responsible for in the District and does not qualify for free meal benefits or refuses to apply for such benefits, the Building Principal or designee will direct the next course of action. Continual failure to provide meal money may require the District to notify the Ill. Dept. of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and/or take legal steps to recover the unpaid meal charges, up to and including seeking an offset under the State Comptroller Act, if applicable.