Purchasing School Meals Update

September 22, 2008

Dear Edmonds School District Community,

First, we would like to thank you for the overall support, suggestions, and input you have provided on the Food Service IOU conversation. The intent from the start was and continues to be how to best support our students’ needs while being fiscally responsible and meeting federal regulations and requirements. This is a difficult balance to strike in all areas of our work to support students and this area in particular — school meals.

During a meeting held the evening of September 17, parent leaders, classroom and food service staff, students, and interested community members shared experiences, brought forward suggestions, and all contributed toward what will clearly be positive outcomes.

Based on the thoughtful input we received from parents, staff, and the community and the research we’ve done, we are developing an implementation and communication plan regarding our food service IOU procedures. This proposed plan will be shared this week with school administrators and district leadership. It is our hope the plan can be implemented as quickly as possible following training for staff as well as providing ample notification to parents.

As we continue to review, develop, and implement revised practices, our temporary hold remains in place on providing substitute meals to students whose households owe more than $10 per student to our food service program. Meals provided during this hold period will be added to the student’s account and the District is continuing to notify parents of unpaid balances and the need to repay amounts owed.

One of the things shared with us is a desire to see our food service lines be reorganized to minimize student embarrassment as much as possible. We are requesting approval from OSPI to change our elementary food service lines so the cashier is at the beginning. To be reimbursed by the federal government for meals, trays must be checked by an adult at the end of the line to be sure they contain the required nutritional elements. At the secondary level, federal requirements do not allow the cashier to be moved to the beginning of the line. Due to the volume of students served and how older students move through a lunch line vs. at elementary schools, having an adult at the front of the multiple lines to confirm account balances before a student takes food proves more difficult. We are continuing to explore ways this can be accomplished to meet the goal of not embarrassing students.

Another area where parents and staff shared concern is what data is available to parents and students regarding their balances. We will work to increase parents’ and students’ access to the records that show their account balance by having it available through Skyward. Better communication is needed and will be shared about www.mylunchmoney.com and how parents can use this system to monitor and maintain food service accounts.

Parents’ ability to set limits on their child’s account is also being looked into. Many parents have shared the desire to set their own additional limits on their children’s accounts. We will train food service staff and develop a process for parents to be able to communicate to the District the limits they wish to have in place.

Clearly, what remains at the center of this issue is putting a plan in place that allows children to receive a substitute meal without embarrassment. We are considering the alternatives to how a substitute meal can be delivered (paper sack vs. a tray) and what it contains (a beverage and/or piece of fruit in addition to a sandwich). Yet, we continue to work to limit the amount of debt an individual student can have and to collect money owed.

We thank everyone for the input we have received and will provide another update on this work soon.