Meal Pricing, A la Carte, Charge Policy, Account Restrictions
Charge Policy
The Davidson County School System participates in the National School Lunch Program sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which permits the school system to offer free and reduced priced meals to students who qualify. Due to reporting requirements, the child nutrition program cannot permit excessive and reoccurring charges of meals. Customers may, however, pay for meals in advance.
Families who wish to apply for free or reduce meals must complete an application each year. The family of any DCS student may submit an application at any time. Applications are available in each school's cafeteria, main office, or on the DCS website.
Applicants are responsible for meals until a free or reduced application is completed and approved.
Meal and item charges are permitted as follows for ALL Davidson County School students:
• In the elementary and middle schools all students, including but not limited to reduced meal benefit students, may charge up to $12.75.
• NO charges will be allowed for high school students.
• When the student's meal charge reaches $37.50, the charge will then be turned over to a collection agency selected and approved by the Superintendent of the Davidson County Schools.
• NO supplemental sales items, such as milk, cookies, ice cream or potato chips, may be charged at any time.
• NO supplemental items will be allowed for purchase until all outstanding charges are paid in full. Any money given to the cafeteria will be applied towards any outstanding charge balance.
• Child Nutrition Services will call all parents every Wednesday for any meal charge and will call every day for charges over $12.75.
• If the student's charge balance exceeds $75.00, at the discretion of the school principal and social worker, the Davidson County Social Services (DSS) may be contacted in relation to potential student neglect.
• Our Child Nutrition Department allows parents to prepay for meals and put money on their child's account at www.lunchprepay.com. This website also allows parents to get a detailed report of purchases made by their child.
Account Restrictions
If you wish restrictions for financial or other reasons not covered by the food allergy policy, the best way to address the issue is by parental involvement and communication with the student. Special notes on accounts are reserved for students requiring dietary modifications through a diet order or allergen statement signed by a licensed physician.
For a small fee, the www.LunchPrepay.com website can show the student's meal history with enough detail to indicate if extra items outside of a normal meal are purchased (such as cookies, desserts, snacks, extra helpings, etc). Using this resource as an educational tool, parents should be able to encourage their students to choose proper items at mealtime.