After just one year, some schools around the country are
dropping out of the healthier new federal lunch program, complaining
that so many students turned up their noses at meals packed with whole
grains, fruits and vegetables that the cafeterias were losing money.
Federal officials say they don’t have exact numbers but have seen
isolated reports of schools cutting ties with the $11 billion National
School Lunch Program, which reimburses schools for meals served and
gives them access to lower-priced food.
Districts that rejected the program say the reimbursement was not
enough to offset losses from students who began avoiding the lunch line
and bringing food from home or, in some cases, going hungry.
PlayVideo
The Lunch Express brings meals to kids in need in rural Tenn.
“Some of the stuff we had to offer, they wouldn’t eat,” said Catlin,
Ill., Superintendent Gary Lewis, whose district saw a 10 to 12 percent
drop in lunch sales, translating to $30,000 lost under the program last
year.
“So you sit there and watch the kids, and you know they’re hungry at
the end of the day, and that led to some behavior and some lack of
attentiveness.”
In upstate New York, a few districts have quit the program, including
the Schenectady-area Burnt Hills Ballston Lake system, whose five
lunchrooms ended the year $100,000 in the red.
Near Albany, Voorheesville Superintendent Teresa Thayer Snyder said
her district lost $30,000 in the first three months. The program didn’t
even make it through the school year after students repeatedly
complained about the small portions and apples and pears went from the
tray to the trash untouched.
Districts that leave the program are free to develop their own
guidelines. Voorheesville’s chef began serving such dishes as salad
topped with flank steak and crumbled cheese, pasta with chicken and
mushrooms, and a panini with chicken, red peppers and cheese.
In Catlin, soups and fish sticks will return to the menu this year,
and the hamburger lunch will come with yogurt and a banana – not one or
the other, like last year.
Nationally, about 31 million students participated in the guidelines thattook effect last fall under the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
Dr. Janey Thornton, deputy undersecretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition
and Consumer Services, which oversees the program, said she is aware of
reports of districts quitting but is still optimistic about the
program’s long-term prospects.
“Many of these children have never seen or tasted some of the fruits
and vegetables that are being served before, and it takes a while to
adapt and learn,” she said.
The agency had not determined how many districts have dropped out,
Thornton said, cautioning that “the numbers that have threatened to drop
and the ones that actually have dropped are quite different.”
The School Nutrition Association found that 1 percent of 521 district
nutrition directors surveyed over the summer planned to drop out of the
program in the 2013-14 school year and about 3 percent were considering
the move.
Not every district can afford to quit. The National School Lunch
Program provides cash reimbursements for each meal served: about $2.50
to $3 for free and reduced-priced meals and about 30 cents for
full-price meals. That takes the option of quitting off the table for
schools with large numbers of poor youngsters.
PlayVideo
USDA, First Lady makeover school lunches
The new guidelines set limits on calories and salt, phase in more
whole grains and require that fruit and vegetables be served daily. A
typical elementary school meal under the program consisted of
whole-wheat cheese pizza, baked sweet potato fries, grape tomatoes with
low-fat ranch dip, applesauce and 1 percent milk.
In December, the Agriculture Department, responding to complaints
that kids weren’t getting enough to eat, relaxed the 2-ounce-per-day
limit on grains and meats while keeping the calorie limits.
At Wallace County High in Sharon Springs, Kan., football player
Callahan Grund said the revision helped, but he and his friends still
weren’t thrilled by the calorie limits (750-850 for high school) when
they had hours of calorie-burning practice after school. The idea of
dropping the program has come up at board meetings, but the district is
sticking with it for now.
“A lot of kids were resorting to going over to the convenience store
across the block from school and kids were buying junk food,” the
17-year-old said. “It was kind of ironic that we’re downsizing the
amount of food to cut down on obesity but kids are going and getting
junk food to fill that hunger.”
To make the point, Grund and his schoolmates starred last year in a music video parodyof the pop hit “We Are Young.” Instead, they sang, “We Are Hungry.”
It was funny, but Grund’s mother, Chrysanne Grund, said her anxiety was not.
“I was quite literally panicked about how we would get enough food in
these kids during the day,” she said, “so we resorted to packing
lunches most days.”
Some Minnesota children go to school hungry and leave even hungrier.
A
majority of public school districts in this state deny hot lunch - or
any lunch at all in some cases - to children who can't pay for them.
Some schools take the meals from students in the lunch line and dump
them in the trash when the computer shows a deficit in their lunch
accounts.
Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda
Cassellius on Monday called the report "troubling," and fired off a
letter to district superintendents.
"Like me, I know that
none of you would deny a child a nutritious lunch intentionally," she
wrote. "I am hoping you will speak with your food service directors
regarding this information and find ways to ensure children are never
turned away from receiving a hot meal."
About 62,000
low-income children and teens take part in Minnesota's reduced-price
lunch program. That should mean that for 40 cents, they get a hot,
nutritious lunch, with the remainder of the cost covered by public
funds. But if students fail to come up with even 40 cents, some schools
respond by denying or downgrading students' lunches, as Mid-Minnesota
Legal Aid discovered when it surveyed 309 public school districts.
Some
school districts send students home with a verbal warning for their
parents or a hand stamp visible to all that says "LUNCH" or "MONEY."
Others hand children a bread-and-butter sandwich and carton of milk in
lieu of a hot lunch.
In a survey released Monday, 46
Minnesota school districts told Legal Aid that they immediately or
eventually refuse to feed students who have insufficient funds in their
lunch accounts. More than half the districts in the state - 166 of them -
provide an alternative meal, typically a cold cheese sandwich, once the
money runs out. Another 96 school districts, including the Minneapolis
public schools, provide a hot lunch regardless of a child's ability to
pay.
Students qualify for free lunch if their family makes
less than about $25,000. After that they qualify for reduced-price lunch
if their family makes less than $36,131. Above that, students must pay
full price - an average of $10 per week per student.
A
school in Utah made national headlines last month for throwing lunches
in the trash if students couldn't pay. The headline of Legal Aid's
report on Monday: "It's Not Just Utah."
"Lunch trays will be pulled" Despite
Casellius' admonitions, it may take more than a letter from the state
to change things. In some districts, lunch denial is intentional - a
written mandate approved by school administrators or school boards. "Lunch
trays will be pulled from a student if there is not enough money in the
account," officials in Anoka County's St. Francis School District wrote
in a notice to parents of students in grades six through 12. "We do not
enjoy pulling trays from students and it slows the lines for other
students trying to get through."
St. Francis Superintendent
Edward Saxton did not respond on Monday to calls for comment. A
full-price lunch in the district costs $2.20 for students in grades K-5
and $2.40 for students in grades six through 12.
The Lake
Crystal Wellcome Memorial School District's official lunch policy
states: "Once the lunch account is at a zero balance there will be a
grace period for 2 days. After that the student will need to bring a
sack lunch. The student will be allowed to eat hot lunch again when they
have a positive balance in their meal account."
Marshall
public schools switch students over to cheese sandwiches when they run
out of money in their accounts. If the account remains in deficit, the
student will continue to receive sandwiches, but their parents may be
referred to a collection agency and social services "for possible
neglect."
"No reduced-price eligible child is turned away
from a meal," Marshall Schools Superintendent Klint Willert wrote in
response to Legal Aid's data practices request. He did not respond to an
interview request from the Star Tribune. "The child will be given
something to eat."
This is the second time Legal Aid has
surveyed school lunch policies. The number of districts guaranteeing a
hot lunch has increased since the initial survey in 2012, but so has the
number of districts turning students away as school costs increase and
budgets shrink.
"They have budgetary pressures and they
have new federal mandates for healthy foods, [and] food has gotten more
expensive," said Jessica Webster, staff attorney for Legal Aid's Legal
Services Advocacy Project, which conducted the survey with support from
the group Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger. "Many just see this as a
parental responsibility. Some districts don't see refusing to serve food
as turning children away. They say, 'We give you a cheese sandwich for
three days and then it's your parents' responsibility.' "
Cassellius,
however, urged schools to find a way to guarantee a hot lunch for any
student who needs one, regardless of their parents' ability or
willingness to pay.
"As you know, for too many of our
children, school meals may be the only nutritious meals they receive,"
she wrote. "We also know that children learn best when they have
nutritious meals throughout their days."
The state could
expand the free lunch program to all students who now receive
reduced-price lunch for an estimated $3.35 million. The Legislature
debated such an expansion last session, but the proposal failed to make
its way into the education budget bill. Rep. Yvonne Selcer,
DFL-Minnetonka, is preparing to push the bill again this year.
The National School Lunch
Program and School Breakfast Program help schools provide nutritious
meals to students each school day. These are U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) programs that are administered by the Minnesota
Department of Education. Participating schools receive Federal and state
funds for meals that meet established nutrition standards.
General Program Requirements
You may qualify for this
benefit program if you have child(ren) who attend a Minnesota school
(high school or under) that participates in the National School Lunch
Program / School Breakfast Program. Almost all public schools and many
private schools participate in these programs.
Your Next Steps
The following information will lead you to the next steps to apply for this program.
Application Process
Schools send school meal
applications home at the beginning of each school year. However, you
may apply for school meals at any time throughout the school year by
submitting a household application directly to your school. Your school
will provide you with an application upon request.
If
you have further questions contact the Minnesota Department of
Education, Food and Nutrition Service at 651-582-8526, 1-800-366-8922
(Minnesota toll free), or email to:fns@state.mn.us
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Average Daily Participation: Nearly 100,000 schools/institutions serve school lunches to 30.5 million students each day, including:
(Source: USDA FY 2015 preliminary data) School Breakfast Program (SBP) Average Daily Participation: Over 90,000 schools/institutions serve school breakfasts to 14 million students each day, including:
Federal Reimbursement Rates for the 2015-16 School Year: School
meal programs are reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for
each meal they serve. Alaska and Hawaii receive higher rates. Below are
the reimbursement rates for meals served to students eligible for free
meals, reduced price meals, and for students who pay for their meals.
Click here for further details. NSLP Reimbursement Rates for the 2015-16 School Year:
Free: $3.07
Reduced Price: $2.67
Paid: $0.29
Schools certified as meeting the new nutrition standards receive an additional $.06 per lunch.
An additional $.02 per lunch is provided to schools in which 60
percent or more of the second preceding school year lunches were served
free or reduced price.
SBP Reimbursement Rates for the 2015-16 School Year:
Free: $1.66
Reduced Price: $1.36
Paid: $0.29
An additional $.30 is provided for each free or reduced price
breakfast served in “severe need” schools, where at least 40 percent of
the lunches served during the second preceding school year were served
free or reduced price.
Eligibility for Free and Reduced Price Meals
Children from families with incomes at or below 130% of the poverty
level are eligible for free school meals. Those with incomes between
130% and 185% of the poverty level are eligible for reduced price meals.
For the 2015-2016 school year, 130% of the poverty level is $31,525 for
a family of four and 185% is $44,863.
Children from families with incomes over 185% of poverty pay full
price for their meals. Local school districts set their own prices for
paid meals.
School Meal Prices
School meal prices vary widely across the country. Prices are set by
local school districts, usually with school board oversight. The
following table lists average prices for paid meals during the 2013-14
school year. The data was collected in SNA’s State of School Nutrition 2014survey, which included responses from 1,102 SNA member school districts nationwide.
Lunch
Breakfast
Elementary
$2.18
$1.26
Middle
$2.37
$1.33
High
$2.42
$1.36
Unpaid meals and charge policies: With
rising school meal prices and tough economic conditions, some families
struggle to cover the cost of school meals. Many school meal programs
have experienced an increase in the number of children who “charge”
their school meals when parents fail to pay for school breakfast or
lunch. In SNA’s State of School Nutrition 2014
survey, nearly 71% of school districts reported that their meal program
had unpaid student meal debt at the end of the 2012-13 school year.
Some schools have accumulated substantial unpaid meal debts and have
been forced to establish policies to address students who cannot pay for
their meal and are not enrolled in the free or reduced price meal
program. Policies may limit the number of times students can charge a
meal or offer an alternate meal, such as a cheese sandwich, fruit and
milk. Eliminating the reduced price category: Some
school districts and states have eliminated the reduced price co-pay
for school breakfast and, in some cases, for lunch. The effect has been
an increase in participation by students from low-income families. These
policies can also help curb unpaid meal charges. Universal free meals: Some
schools and districts with very high percentages of low-income students
offer “universal free meals.” Allowing all students to receive free
meals ensures all students have access to healthy meals while reducing
program administrative costs.
Cost to Produce School Meals
The cost of producing a school meal differs from one community to the
next due to regional variations in food, labor and fuel costs, and
local variations in school equipment and infrastructure, contract
agreements, etc.
In April 2008, USDA released its School Lunch and Breakfast Cost Study-II,
which examined the cost of producing a school meal during school year
2005-06.The study found that, on average, the full cost to produce a
reimbursable school lunch was $2.91, exceeding the free lunch subsidy,
then $2.495.
To boost operational revenue, many school meal programs rely on a la
carte sales, provide catering services or contract with community
programs such as Head Start, child care and elder care centers to supply
meals. Breakdown in costs: The School Lunch and Breakfast Cost Study-II revealed the following average breakdown in costs for producing a school lunch:
Food
37%
Labor/Benefits
48%
Supplies
5%
Other, including Indirect Costs*
10%
Total
100%
*Indirect costs are paid to the school district for shared expenses such as electricity and custodial services. Typical expenses: The
average school nutrition program has a number of expenses beyond food,
labor, benefits and supplies that factor into the budget. These include:
Purchased and leased equipment (kitchen, office, dining, vehicles)
Purchased services (contracts with vendors for data processing,
consultant fees, custodial, printing, advertising, legal, human
resources, etc)
Repair / maintenance
Electricity / water / trash removal
Transportation / fuel
Professional development
Marketing / promotion
Security services and lunch room supervision
Financial challenges under the new nutrition standards: In light of rising food costs and the increased cost of producing
a school meal to meet new
nutrition standards, school nutrition professionals face a delicate balancing act to
keep their programs in the black.
According to USDA,the
new regulations added 10 cents to the cost of preparing every school lunch and
27 cents for every breakfast. To help schools meet the rules, Congress provided
school meal programs only 6 additional cents for each lunch and no additional
funds for breakfast. In recent SNAsurvey,
nearly eight in every ten school districts have had to take steps to offset
financial losses since the new standards were implemented. Actions include
reducing staffing, deferring or cancelling equipment investments and
diminishing the meal program’s reserve fund, critical for investing in program
improvements.
SNA is calling on Congress to provide increased funding and
regulatory flexibility to help school meal programs manage higher costs.
Lunch Period Scheduling
Federal regulations
governing NSLP state that “Schools must offer lunches between 10 am and
2 pm. Schools may request an exemption from these times from the State
agency.”
USDA “encourages schools to provide sufficient lunch periods that are
long enough to give all students adequate time to be served and to eat
their lunches.”
SNA’s State of School Nutrition 2014
survey, which included responses from 1,102 SNA member school districts
nationwide, revealed that the typical lunch period length is about half
an hour, with a median of 25 minutes reported for elementary schools
and 30 minutes for middle and high schools. However, this data does not
specify the amount of time students have to eat their meals, as lunch
periods must also include travel time from the classroom to the
cafeteria and time in line to get a meal.
Lunch schedules and short lunch periods continue to challenge school
nutrition professionals, as they work to serve hundreds of students in a
matter of minutes and ensure students have adequate time to enjoy their
meals. Under
new nutrition standards for school meals, cafeterias are offering more fresh produce, which takes more time for students to consume.
More detailed data on lunch period length and schedules can be found
in USDA’s
School Nutrition Dietary Assessment - IV (school year 2009-10).
If your family lunch account is low ($5.00 positive or less) or is
in the negative, you should be receiving an automated low balance email reminder from Wordware. If you are not getting this email reminder, please check your junk box and be sure to click to allow it! If you are still not getting the email, please call 262-
250-6462 and verify with us that we have the correct email address that you want in your family’s lunch account. You can also still register your account online at https://family.wordwareinc.com. You will need a family key in step 2 of the registration. Call 262-250-6462, or email
erdjea@sdmfschools.org to request yours. Please monitor your lunch account often! Did you know?
Students of all ages love the fresh pre bagged veggies they can
quickly grab from the veggie bar! The bags have a variety of veggies inside that equal a one cup serving. They get a choice of humus or low fat ranch dip for thecarrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers in any combination that might be served that day. This month’s Star Foodis... Broccoli!
Fun Broccoli Facts:
Broccoli is related to cauliflower, kale, cabbage, turnips, rutabagas and Brussels sprouts.
California produces almost all the broccoli sold in the USA!
Broccoli heads are made up of little buds that are ready to flower.
Nutrition Facts of 3oz of Broccoli
Vitamin C
42.0mg 70%
Vitamin A
400.0IU 8%
Dietary Fiber
2.0mg 8%
Q: What do you get when you cross broccoli and a vampire?
Smart School is a technology collaborative that brings school
districts the ability to unify all of their primary payment solutions
into a single interface for parents to use.
Smart School combines the best of functional software solutions for
foodservice, child care, community ed, activities and student fees into
one merchant account. It can cover everything from sport eligibility
management, free and reduced management, ticketing and seating sales for
events, after-school childcare and much more. Our best of breed (BOB)
collaboration of cutting edge solutions strives to deliver the best
available parent school payment experience!
Wordwareinc.com
Technology solutions for the cafeteria and beyond. The Lunch
Cashier System software is designed for schools and businesses that
need to manage meal accounting information.
Affinetysolutions.com
Industry leading online registration & payment solution
for Athletics and Activities. Real time reports on who is “cleared to
participate” by tracking sports physical, transfer date, concussion
baseline testing and more; mobile access to emergency card information;
dashboards for improved parent communication, increased staff
productivity & reduction of operational costs.
Fee-Zee.com
FEEZEE is an easy to use payment processing solution that
allows you to process credit cards, debit cards and ACH transactions
with a simple interface launched right from your web site.
Edutrak.com
Turnkey online payment systems designed specifically for
education organizations. Instant, secure sign-up and administration for
school classes and activities. Simplified management of your school’s
physical resources.
Aptpayments.com
APT is a leader in bank card processing services for
traditional and internet businesses. We offer some of the industry's
most competitive pricing, 7x24 hour customer service, and one of the
most effective loss prevention and chargeback departments in the
industry.
Technology solutions for the cafeteria and beyond. The Lunch Cashier
System software is designed for schools and businesses that need to
manage meal accounting information.
Family Lunch Account Login1. Click on Family Login in the top right hand corner.
2. Follow the directions from there. You will need to set up a new user account.
3.
Choose the Second Box. You will need your Family ID and your Family
Pin. If you do not know these, please contact Kelly Dollen at
712-485-2257. kdollen@tctrojans.org
In order for parents to create an account, they must know their
students activation code. Parents can retrieve the activation code by
emailing Mrs. Harriet Wood at woodh@burnsscitech.org or Mrs. Crystal
Faulkner at faulknerc@burnsscitech.org.
All pre-payments made online will instantly reflect on the students account.
Has your child mentioned a change in what is served for school lunch? Due to new guidelines government, a change has occurred in what and how much food is being served to students at lunch. These handed down from the United States Department of Agriculture focus national “Healthy Plate” dietary guidelines.
Our school lunch program must serve the follow amount of foods groups Fruits:
Alexandria Public Schools - School Lunch Program / Nutrition Software
VIEWING FAMILY MEAL ACCOUNT DETAILS
Improvements
have been made to how families access their meal account information.
If you have previously registered with your family number and PIN, you
do not need to re-register. If this is your first time accessing your
family account in Wordware, please call 320-762-3315 to obtain your
Family Key number. To register your account, go to family.wordwareinc.com and follow the instructions.
Once registered, you will be able to access your account balance, view transactions, make payments, and more.
Pine
City Schools are excited to offer parents a more convenient way to
deposit funds into their family lunch accounts. Parents will now be
able to add funds directly from their Wordware family site with a simple
button click. Parents will no longer need to manage separate usernames
and passwords for other sites to make lunch payments. Parents can
determine the payment method and the amount they would like to add to
their account, as well as some added functions for automatic low balance
notifications and recurring payments. This easy-to-use method will
make adding funds to your student’s account much easier and faster.
This solution provides:
Secure online payment processing (PCI compliance)
Flexible payment options
An easy to use, intuitive interface
Receipts plus much more
PARENT QUICK STEPS
Parent Steps to Use FEEZEE- Add Funds
Log into your Family site for Wordware
Click Add Funds
First time users- Select Add Payment Method (One time only setup or when changing payment methods)
Fill out Payment Profile and click Save
Select Add Funds
Enter the amount you would like to add
Click Add Funds
Review payment information
Click Submit
You will then have an option to print a receipt
The next time you click Add Funds, you will simply enter the amount and complete the process
Need help? We're just a call away.
Wordware,
in partnership with FEEZEE (Pine City’s online payment solution),
understands you may need assistance signing onto the site or learning
how to use it, and we are here to help you. If you would like to get set
up, but need assistance, please contact us at the number below.
Support for the Wordware Family Site for the Pine City Public School District
844-533-3933, press 2 for Technical Support
Support Hours 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday - Friday www.wordwareinc.com www.fee-zee.com
National School Breakfast Week
is coming up: March 7-11. At PCPS, students can get a breakfast
complete with fruit, 100% fruit juice, whole grains, and milk for $1.10.
All kindergarten students eat free breakfast this year!
Pine
City Elementary School will have several guest servers throughout the
week, new menu items, small give-aways, taste testing and student
voting.
Pine City High School will be offering taste testing, a new menu item and student voting.
Nutrition Education in the Classroom Former
Food and Nutrition Director, Abby Olson RD, and Dietetic Intern, Hannah
Colby, taught several kindergarten classrooms a lesson on trying new
foods through a book called "I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato"
by Lauren Child. Students also gave examples of new foods they tried
and liked when they thought they would not like the new food by just
looking at it. Students were given samples of a dessert hummus and tried a fruit many had never tried before, a mango!!! The snacks were a big hit with the kindergarten students! Check out some photos below.
After
trying the dessert hummus students were given quick surveys. They were
asked whether or not they liked the dessert hummus and a whopping 95% gave a thumbs up to liking the hummus!
May
1st is School Lunch Hero Day. This is a day to recognize the kitchen
staff that work hard to prepare meals for students, staff and guests
everyday! Please give a big thank you today and everyday to your lunch
ladies!
Check Out the TED talk below about why lunch ladies are awesome!
Welcome to the Ashwaubenon School District where we have a
long-standing history of high academic achievement and student
opportunities . We provide a comprehensive PK-12 educational program
with instruction at all levels to meet the needs of all students
regardless of their differences in abilities, interests, and learning
styles. Our extensive co-curricular program enables our students to
become well-rounded individuals.
Ashwaubenon is unique in the
region for our world language program in which German and Spanish are
offered to students from Grade 1 to Grade 12, and for being one of the
first school districts to implement a community service graduation
requirement.
As a district we are committed to: providing the highest quality programs, services, and staff,maintaining a healthy and safe learning environment, serving as proactive agents of change, being responsible stewards of district resources, engaging our community in the educational process, and monitoring and evaluating results for continuous improvement.
Payment Options & Account Balances
METHOD OF PAYMENT
We are pleased to offer parents several meal payment options:
Elementary children can turn payment envelopes in to their teachers or main office.
Secondary students can turn envelopes in to the cashiers.
Phone in credit card to the Business Office at 920.492.2905, Ext. 1006.
Automatically withdrawn electronically from checking account or credit card.
You
are in full control of your account. By providing your home and/or work
email address, an email notification informing you of the student’s
name, purpose of the payment, and amount will be sent to you each time
that a payment is to be processed.
ACCOUNT BALANCES
If you would like an itemized statement of your account, or if you
would like to know your account balance, call 920.492.2905, Ext. 1006 or
view your account online. Do not wait for the phone notification system
to contact you, but rather, deposit monthly amounts into your family’s
account.
Account drops to $10 – a payment envelope will be sent home.
Account drops to $0 – your children will be restricted to reimbursable meal choices only.
Account
balance drops to a negative $15 – the family account will be
deactivated. K-8 students will be offered a sandwich and milk, at no
expense. High school students will have to borrow from a friend or pay
cash.
MEAL ACCOUNT BALANCES ONLINE & E-MAIL NOTIFICATIONS OF BALANCE
Go to:www.wordwareinc.com
Enter Username and Password
A statement of your account will appear.
If you wish to participate but have not received your Family Key Number, call 920.492.2905 Ext. 1006.
E~funds
For Schools allows families several payment options. Meal payments can
be automatically electronically withdrawn from your checking account or
charged to your credit card. You have the flexibility to pay at anytime
through the school’s website. No payments will be allowed without your
knowledge and authorization through this secure payment system.
The Cornell School District incorporated The Lunch
Cashier System software by Wordware, Inc. for keeping track of the lunch
program. The Cornell School District is excited to launch phase one of
the new nutrition software. The nutrition department has updated their
systems to LCS1000 Mayflower by Wordware Inc.
LCS1000
Mayflower is a comprehensive, integrated food service management solution for
K-12 School Districts. It provides all of the tools required to run a smooth
and efficient food service operation. LCS1000 Mayflower is a suite of
easy-to-use, highly-integrated software modules.
It may
take a few weeks for everything to get up and running smoothly so we ask that
students and parents are patient during this transition process. We are
confident the new software will benefit the department and satisfy our customer
needs and expectations.
What’s New?
The point
of sale system has been implemented and features touch screen point of sale
monitors that can display the students’ picture as the lunch card is scanned.
This will allow for accurate identification of the customer.
The
biggest change will be in how parents pay for lunches. Currently when parents
deposit lunch money they then have to select where they want those credits to
go between breakfast, lunch, or cash. At times this system has caused confusion
for parents and they have accidently deposited money to the wrong option. With
the new system, all money will be deposited into one account .
Wordware
is continually developing their nutrition software to meet and exceed the needs
and demands of our customers across multiple settings. Based on our customer
needs and technology environments, we have created a fully web based program
that will run on any HTML5 device and can be deployed as a fully cloud based
solution or on an appliance. What does that mean to you? You can deploy our
software any way you choose without a major investment in your infrastructure.
Wordware
dedicated for providing best nutrition software to the schools for the health
of students and to make worry free their parents.
When
parents log into Lunch Cashier System they will deposit their student’s money
into one account. This cash account will fund all lunch, breakfast or a la
carte purchases. Parent username and passwords for Lunch Cashier System will not change.
Our
Solutions
Family
Based- Money deposited goes into a family account. This eliminates multiple
entries and allows schools focus on the household.
Automated
letter generation and reporting … built in timeline to streamline workflow …
plus processing direct certification saves hours if not days of work.
Particularly if there are multiple students in the same household (another
benefit of a family based solution).
Wordware’s
unique onscreen marking system keeps the student status anonymous to any
onlooker while allowing the cafeteria staff to process the proper meal
selection.
Because
Wordware is web based and server based our networked LCS1000 keeps lines
running fast regardless of internet speeds. Plus if the internet is down any
data captured on the LCS1000 syncs to the cloud back up as soon as the
connection is re-established. No data is lost.
Wordware
provides robust reporting capabilities with on demand access to all the
critical information staff and administration needs. Cash reporting …
balances … student and family activity … meal detail etc. Just to name a few.
