I think most account number are a portion of the childs social security number. In the counties around here it is the last 4 numbers of the ss#. One of the reasons for all kids punching in their numbers is for accountability. The cashier is responsible for the money and that way she can run the paperwork to see if she balances and if their is a mistake she can usually figure it out. The state is very strict in the paperwork for the Federal Lunch Program. The cashier runs copies of needed paperwork for the folks in the food service office as well as for the manager(me) as we have to keep counts of how many meals were served and then we figure in the costs of the food items and then in the end we get a per meal cost. In GA we don't receive food based on what the kids ate but we order what we think we will need. We keep our records and if we had pizza last month we can go back to see how many meals were served and base our order on that.
But with the account number lunch money is turned in during the morning and the cashier applies it to the account. Then when the student gets a meal they punch the number in and the cost of the meal is deducted. It also creates a history so if a parent questions why they owe lunch money the cashier can print a history of the whole school year to show what days the child ate, whether or not breakfast was eaten and whether or not the child actually turned in the lunch money!! It also shows that the county school systen is being honest and they can't "fudge" with the figures and say they served 100 free meals as opposed to 20 free meals. Free meals are reimbursed at a much higher rate than reduced meals and I think full pay meals are reimbursed at only a tiny fraction so it would greatly benefit a system to say they had more free students than they actually do. By punching in those numbers it keeps everybody honest from the student to the cashier,to the manager and right on up the ladder.
PS.....when you send in your childs lunch money it is BEST to NOT send cash....send a check that way the check # is recorded and if there is ever any question about it it can be traced to see if it was ever received or to see if it was accidentally recorded on another kids account. You would be amazed at the number of kids that keep their lunch money to spend on candy or such and then the parent calls us to cuss us out.
But with the account number lunch money is turned in during the morning and the cashier applies it to the account. Then when the student gets a meal they punch the number in and the cost of the meal is deducted. It also creates a history so if a parent questions why they owe lunch money the cashier can print a history of the whole school year to show what days the child ate, whether or not breakfast was eaten and whether or not the child actually turned in the lunch money!! It also shows that the county school systen is being honest and they can't "fudge" with the figures and say they served 100 free meals as opposed to 20 free meals. Free meals are reimbursed at a much higher rate than reduced meals and I think full pay meals are reimbursed at only a tiny fraction so it would greatly benefit a system to say they had more free students than they actually do. By punching in those numbers it keeps everybody honest from the student to the cashier,to the manager and right on up the ladder.
PS.....when you send in your childs lunch money it is BEST to NOT send cash....send a check that way the check # is recorded and if there is ever any question about it it can be traced to see if it was ever received or to see if it was accidentally recorded on another kids account. You would be amazed at the number of kids that keep their lunch money to spend on candy or such and then the parent calls us to cuss us out.
