Payments and Charge Policy

• You can send in prepayment monies at any time. We recommend that parents send in checks rather than cash. All monies should be submitted only to cafeteria personnel.
• Checks are to be made payable to Medford School Lunch Account.
• When sending a prepayment, please include the student’s ID# on the face of the check. If you send in cash please indicate on the face of the envelope, the student’s ID#.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the office of School Lunch at 781-393-2241.

We are offering an exciting new option to help make your life easier. mySchoolBucks.com® is an on-line system that will allow you to make deposits into your student’s school meal accounts.

mySchoolBucks offers…

• Safety. Virtually eliminates worries about your child carrying money to school.
• Convenience. Make payments when it’s convenient for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
• Control.
  – Receive low balance email reminders (set your own limits!)
  – Monitor your student’s account balances online.
  – View your student’s cafeteria purchases.
• Efficiency. Make your payments for all your children in one easy step, even if they attend different schools in the district.
• Flexibility
  – Make payments using your VISA, Master Card, Discover credit/debit cards or electronic check.
  – Option to have payments made automatically each month.
  – Deposit confirmations sent directly to your email account.

Money deposited into mySchoolBucks.com will usually arrive at the school by the next morning. You can set your low balance settings to remind you when it’s time to add more money, or set up recurring payments so the system will automatically add money to the account when your balance reaches the threshold you set.

Getting started is easy! Visit www.mySchoolBucks.com and click the “REGISTER FOR A FREE ACCOUNT” button to create an account. A confirmation email will be sent to the address you provide. Simply follow the link included in that email and your registration will be complete. Once you log in, you can add all your students by entering each student’s school, their name and student ID number.

mySchoolBucks.com allows you to check balances, review transaction history, and receive low balance alerts from the comfort of your home for no charge. A convenience fee may apply for payments to your student account(s). You will have the opportunity to review any fees (and cancel, if you choose) before you are charged.

You can also download the mySchoolBucks app for your iPhone or Android phone.

If you have any questions, you can email support@myschoolbucks.com or call 1-855-832-5226.

The goal of the Medford Public Schools Food Service program is to provide students with healthy, nutritious meals each day so they can focus in school, while also maintaining the financial integrity of the program and minimizing stigmatization of children with meal charges. Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 210.10(a)(1) General Nutrition Requirements states “Schools must provide nutritious and well-balanced meals to all children they serve.” In accordance with this regulation, Medford Public Schools will not deny any student access to school meals. In order to be in compliance of all who participate in the school meal program, the policy establishes procedures for methods of payment, charge availability and collection methods. However, unpaid meal charges place a large financial burden on the Food Services Department, as this department is a self-supporting business. The purpose of this policy is to ensure compliance with federal reporting requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program, and to provide oversight and accountability for the collection of outstanding student meal balances.

The intent of this policy is to establish uniform meal account procedures throughout the Medford Public Schools. The provisions of this policy pertain to regular priced school breakfast and lunch meals only. A “reimbursable meal” is defined as a meal consisting of at least three of the five components (grain, meat or meat alternate, fruit, vegetable and milk) and must include a fruit and/or vegetable component.

Parents/Guardians are responsible for all meal payments to the food service program. Notices of low or deficit balances will be sent to parents/guardians via post mail, and/or a telephone call at regular intervals during the school year. Parents have the ability to track student purchases via www.MySchoolBucks.com regardless of whether or not they use the website to deposit money. If student purchases become an issue, parents have the ability to put a block on the account to prohibit the child from purchasing a la carte items. Purchase blocks that the Food Service Department can put on the child’s account include: “No Breakfast,” “No Lunch,” “No Snack Food,” and “Cash Only for A La Carte.” To put a block on your child’s account, please contact the Food Service Office at 781-393-2241.

Negative Balances and Meal Charges All students will pay for meals at the district’s published standard rate as determined by their meal benefit status (full pay, reduced-price, or free) each day. After the balance reaches zero and enters the negative, students will not be allowed to purchase a la carte items such as a second entrée, snack, or an additional beverage. The child will still be allowed to take a regular meal with no alternate meal required. The allowable meal charge maximum for all school age students is $50.00 unless an exceptional situation occurs which will be determined by the Directors of Food Service and Finance. Only a meal will be allowed for charge, no additional a la carte items will be allowed and each meal served will be charged to the account at the standard lunch/breakfast rate based on their meal benefit status. The parent or guardian is responsible for all meal charges incurred. If there is a financial hardship, please contact food services directly at 781-393-2241 to discuss payment options such as an individualized repayment plan and a free/reduced lunch application.

Students without meal money on a consistent basis who reach $25.00 will have outreach provided by Guidance Counselors who are trained student advocates to investigate the situation more closely and offer action as needed to assist in providing applications for services. Students under the age of 18 will not be approached by food service staff. Financial hardships occur during the year and parents/guardians are encouraged to apply for free or reduced-price lunches and/or other Massachusetts aide that could automatically qualify the student(s). Applications are on-line and provided in multiple languages, however, if additional assistance is needed in applying for free or reduced-price school meals, please contact the Food Service Office at 781-393-2241.

All school cafeterias possess computerized point of sale/cash register systems that maintain anonymity of meal status as well as records of all monies deposited and spent for each student. Records are available by setting up an account at www.MySchoolBucks.com or by speaking with the cafeteria manager. The point of sale service is designed to prevent overt identification of student meal benefits statuses. Cashiers will alert students of low balances so they can notify their parent/guardian to replenish their account. Parents will also receive low-balance notices through their school and a MySchoolBucks account. Should negative balance notices not result in payment, parents will receive a follow-up phone call from the Food Service Office.

Students/Parents/Guardians can pay for meals in advance via www.MySchoolBucks.com or with a check payable to Medford Food Service. There will be a $25.00 insufficient fee for any returned checks. A positive balance should be maintained in students’ accounts to minimize the possibility that a child may be without meal money on any given day. Any remaining funds for an active student, whether positive or negative, will be carried over to the next school year.

Refunds for withdrawn and/or graduating students require a written request for any funds remaining in their account. Refund requests should be submitted to the attention of Food Service Director, 489 Winthrop Street, Medford, Massachusetts, 02155 or via an email request to the Food Service Director. Students who are graduating at the end of the year also have the option to transfer funds to a sibling’s account or to donate to a student in need with a written request. Any funds remaining at the end of December of graduation year that have not had a refund request will be rolled to a student in need.