2022-2023 Annual Notice of Local Meal Charge Policy &  Meal Payment Information

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The school meals program makes nutritious and tasty meals available to all students.  Each year, we work to ensure that all eligible children are certified for free and reduced meals*.  Sometimes children who are not certified for free or reduced meals wish to purchase breakfast or lunch and do not have the necessary funds on their cafeteria account.  This presents a difficult situation for the child and cafeteria staff.  In order to assure that students have the nutrition they need to learn and thrive, the school district adopted its Local Meal Charge Policy**. 

This policy allows students to charge one complete breakfast and one complete lunch per day, regardless of meal account balance.  Parents are still responsible for payment of these meals. This policy is intended to provide a wholesome complete meal and does not allow for individual items to be charged. The student will be told to select a complete meal if they have no funds and are attempting to buy individual items.  

* Apply for free and reduced priced meals here: https://frapps.horizonsolana.com/GUNW01

**The complete unpaid meal policy, EF-E-1, is available on the school district website: http://gunnisonschools.net/district/school_board.  

Meal Payment Information:

• Set up and pre-fund your student's meal account on https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/
• Use the student's 6-digit ID number to set up the account.
  
• Set up the autopay option to add funds when the account gets low.
  
• use mypaymentsplus to pre-fund the account and view purchases, and set up payment reminders.
• You may also Pre-fund your student's meal account with a check. Make checks out to "Gunnison Watershed School District". Write your student's name and 6-digit school ID number on the memo.
• Each student has a school meals account, which is accessed with a 4 digit pin number.
• Students can make purchases with the school meals account if it is pre-funded.
• Students may not “charge” items to their school meals account if it has no funds*. See local meal charge policy.
•  If you want to put a block on your child’s account so that they cannot charge a meal, please contact your school’s cafeteria manager (see below).

Notification of Low and Negative Balances:

• Notices of Low Balances (Less than $5.00) and Negative Balances are sent to the guardian every 2 weeks.
• Notices are emailed from the software system Solana. Please look for these in your inbox.
• If there is no email on file, the notice is mailed home.
• Kitchen managers call guardians if a student  account reaches the unpaid balance of -$50.00
• Pre-collections notices are emailed and mailed to the guardian if the account reaches an unpaid balance of -$100.00.  Guardians are given 3 weeks to pay off the balance or set up a payment plan before the account is sent to collections.

The school district does not send home statements of balances or itemized invoices of purchases. Parents need to manage their student’s account on mypaymentsplus. The District cannot carry the financial burden of delinquent lunch accounts or spend the time and energy it takes to collect.  Therefore, as a last resort, any parent who repeatedly refuses to take one of the above actions and continues to have a negative balance on their child’s lunch account will be notified and sent to collections.

Thank you for supporting the school cafeteria and for managing your child’s account.  Please feel free to contact myself or your cafeteria manager for assistance.

Sincerely,

Kristen Osborn, School Nutrition Director

[email protected]; (970) 641-7770

Gunnison Watershed School District Kitchen Managers:

Crested Butte Community School: Kim Kula, [email protected]  (970) 641-7720 x6313

Gunnison Community School and Lake School: Laura Henry, [email protected]  (970) 641-7710 x4018     

Gunnison High School: Trina Lull, [email protected]  (970) 641-7770 x3638