Bethel School officials are outlining their rules about providing lunch to students who have negative balances on their accounts.  Included in a newsletter sent out at the start of the new school year, Bethel officials said they recognize that lunches or lunch money get left behind sometimes and a child needs to charge a meal. 

Unfortunately, the schools say some large individual negative balances have been created, and they are not legally allowed to carry those balances.  Some new restrictions are now in place. 

Children are never allowed to buy snacks, drinks or other a la carte items without paying for them in cash or charged to a child’s account that has money on it. 

Elementary and Middle School students will be allowed to purchase up to three meals without payment in emergencies.  After the charge limit is reached, an alternative meal consisting of a cheese sandwich, fruit, vegetable and milk will be offered to the student, and be added to the balance due.  As students approach the charge limit, they will be warned that future purchases will be restricted. 

High School Students are permitted two charged meals.  No alternative meal is offered. Additionally, during the final three weeks of school in May/June, there is no charging allowed at all at the high school so that we may collect negative balances of graduating students.