There was the day when you bought lunch tickets. Then cashiers started accepting cash. Now you can purchase a debit card for students.
Today at Shaull Elementary School, students were enjoying a nutritious lunch from the cafeteria. Some kids still bring their noontime meal from home. But many bought their food. Cumberland Valley School District and others in the midstate have launched a debit card system for payment.
"If a parent chooses to use the online debit system, there's a website where they can create an account. They log on. Then can actually load money to the account that way. They can also track balances. At the elementary level, we also send home low balance notices. At the secondary level, the cashiers are telling our students regularly how much is left in their account." Said Tracy Panzer from the Cumberland Calley School District.
Panzer says at Cumberland Valley the desire is to ensure a child has a lunch while in school. If the account drops to zero, the district has a leniency program till money is added. It's very rare that a student would have to go without lunch.