Policies
Food Services Policy
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The operation of the Fox Chapel Area School District's food services department is addressed in Board Policy 808.
Student Wellness Policy
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Student Wellness is addressed under Board Policy 246.
Debt Policy
The Fox Chapel Area School District's food services department's debt policy is covered in 808-AR-3, which is provided below.
Due to the large number of students charging their meals, it is necessary to address the issue of delinquent food service accounts.
The Board of School Directors is required to provide healthy meals in accordance with current regulation and policy. The Board of School Directors shall permit students to incur what the Board or its designee considers reasonable charges and that parents/guardians shall be contacted for payment of said charges.
GUIDELINES:
The district shall inform, in writing, parent/guardian, who incurred a negative balance, of the district’s policy regarding food service charges. The Food Services Department of the Fox Chapel Area School District adopted a Point of Service System (P.O.S.S.) for meal purchases in each building. Parents/guardians have the ability to prepay for meals by depositing funds to the student's account. All students are issued a Personal Identification Number (PIN) upon entering grade K and will retain a PIN while enrolled in the Fox Chapel Area School District.
A written notice will be sent by mail to parent/guardian whose students have a debt greater than $10.00, informing them of the balance and the notice shall include information on payment options. If the balance is not paid immediately, the student will be provided a qualified lunch at the cost of a school lunch. Students with a negative account balance may not purchase a second meal, ala carte items, snacks, or beverages. Elementary students with a negative account balance may purchase a milk.
Parents are encouraged to keep funds in their child’s account.
Parents with hardships can apply for Free and Reduced Meals at any time during the school year. However, this will not negate the charges incurred nor can a Free and Reduced Meal application be back-dated to address accrued charges.
The District will attempt to collect on accrued charges through contact with parent/guardian. The District will work with parent/guardian to set up a payment plan for families that are experiencing difficulties paying for their accrued charges.
Low Fund Balance
Parents/guardians are reminded that it is not the policy of the Fox Chapel Area School District to verbally request a credit card number for any payment of a school meal account. Please know that at no time will the school district or any of its representatives request credit card information over the phone.
As a reminder, low balance notification procedures for families participating in the district's online school meal payment service are as follows:
- A low balance notification letter is sent home informing parents/guardians that their child's/children's school meal account is low. In addition, if requested upon activation of the school district's online payment service, a low balance notification may be sent via email. Parents/guardians may register for the notification at https://www.schoolcafe.com.
- A follow-up phone call also may be placed to remind parents/guardians of a negative meal account balance. Payments may be made by providing payment and student information including name, homeroom number, homeroom teacher, and special instructions to the individual cafeteria office. Payments also may be made by the student directly at the point of service. If registered, payments may be made online at https://www.schoolcafe.com, the school district's point of service (POS) software provider.
Restricting Student Purchases
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If parents wish to restrict their children from purchasing certain food items, they should contact Julie Geary in the food services office at (412) 967-2502 or by email at julie_geary@fcasd.edu.
Student Purchase of Snacks in Elementary Schools
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Effective April 1, 2018, students in kindergarten-grade two at all of the Fox Chapel Area School District elementary schools will only be able to purchase snacks during lunch in the cafeterias on Fridays. These snacks will no longer be offered five days a week for our younger students. The elementary students in grades three-five will still have the opportunity to purchase snacks during their lunch times as usual.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statements and Compliance Procedure
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/
- Mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
- Fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
- Email:
program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.