About 100 Elizabethton city schools students are using the new My School Bucks online lunch payment system since it went into effect Aug. 25. The motion to implement the program through Heartland Payment System was approved two months ago for a three-year term by the ECS Board of Education.
School Nutrition Coordinator Mary Ann Williams said 100 students’ use of the system within only a week is “pretty good.”
It allows parents to put money into an account online by debit or credit card to pay for their student’s lunch and breakfast, while providing access to monitor purchases and to receive notices when the account balance is low.
With this system, parents can be sure that their child’s lunch money is going to its intended destination.
“Sometimes it’s easier for parents to do that than to remember to give their children money, and sometimes they give kids money and it doesn’t make it all the way to the cafeteria, and this way parents know its getting into the account,” said Williams.
To access My School Buck at checkout, they will input their four-digit code, which all students have, and click “pay” to withdraw from the account.
At any time, parents can add money and check the account balance and purchases made.
The majority of students using the program attend T.A. Dugger Junior High School or Elizabethton High School. Meal prices at EHS are $2.50 for lunch or 40 cents for reduced-price lunch and $1.40 for breakfast or 30 cents for reduced-price breakfast. At T.A. Dugger, lunch costs $2.40 or 40 cents for reduced-price lunch, and breakfast is $1.35 or 30 cents for reduced-price breakfast.
Students of West Side, East Side and Harold McCormick Elementary Schools qualify for free lunch and breakfast through the Community Eligibility program, but parents may wish to setup an account to fund snacks or additional food for their children.
To register, visit www.myschoolbucks.com and after activating the account, you may add students with their names and school ID numbers.
“Parents are very busy and this gives parents the ability to make sure they’re a part of what’s going on with the school lunch and a convenient way to pay for it,” said Director of Schools Corey Gardenhour. “We’re happy to provide this for parents.”