Purpose

The purpose of these guidelines is to establish consistent meal account procedures for Ignacio School District 11 JT, and alleviate the financial burden that unpaid meal charges place on the school district. These guidelines also serve to create a fair system to ensure students have access to school meals through charge guidelines.

We understand that unforeseen circumstances do arise which make it difficult to pay for school meals. Under these circumstances, please call the Food Service Director, Kim Cotta, at 970-563-0653 to make alternative arrangements.

Free/Reduced Meal

Free & Reduced Meal applications are available anytime during the school year. A new, current school year application per family must be completed each school year. Applications are available prior to the beginning of the school year during school registration, check in and meet your teacher events, at each school cafeteria, the school office, at the Ignacio Administration Office, and online at www.ignacioschools.org under Cafeteria Menu. Ignacio School District encourages family in need to complete the application.

K-5 families with students on the reduced plan eat breakfast and lunch for free. 6-12 families with students on reduced plan eat breakfast at no charge and pay $.40 per lunch. Please ensure that you receive confirmation that you are on the free or reduced meal program to avoid charging meals and incurring fees.

Guidelines K-12

1. We know that a well-nourished child is a more engaged learner and performs better in school. To that end, we allow students to charge a limited amount of meals based on the following guidelines:
2. Prepayment of meals is required. You can establish a meal credit on your student’s meal account through pre-payments. Each meal eaten will be deducted from this pre-paid account. It is your responsibility to ensure the account is funded and current.
3. When the student’s meal account gets to a $10 balance, the Food Service Department will call and/or send an email to the parent/guardian informing them of the status of their student’s meal balance.
4. Should the meal balance go below $0.00, the student may charge up to three days of meals. The Food Service Department will continue contacting parent /guardian about the status of the account.
5. Once a student incurs three (3) days of charging a student may not receive a meal from the cafeteria line, but instead may receive a partial meal at a cost of $.75 for breakfast and $1.25 for lunch.
6. If payment or payment arrangements are not made, the Food Service Director or their designee will contact the household to make a plan to bring the account to a positive balance.
7. Should negative balances not be paid in full by the end of the school year, the school district reserves the right to send the account to collections.

How to Pay

Pay online through your Infinite Campus Parent Portal account using a credit card or bank account. If you need assistance setting up your account, please call 970-563-0500 ext 301. Provide cash or check to school cafeteria or mail checks, money orders or certified checks to Food Service, P.O. Box 460 Ignacio, CO 81137. Please note the student(s) name on the check.