Willington policy committee backs model meal‑charging language; board must clear unpaid lunch balances by June 30

The Willington Board of Education policy subcommittee reviewed a new model meal‑charging policy and recommended forwarding a short, compliant version to the full board for consideration.

The committee’s chair (S1) said the model language includes an explicit requirement that "the board of education has to take care of any unpaid debt lunch balances by June 30th of each year," a clause the district’s existing policy did not contain and that the district’s food‑service auditor flagged as required. "This is what they tell you what has to be in the policy," the chair said, noting the language was pulled from a model guide for school nutrition programs.

The draft retains protections that cafeteria staff may not delay or refuse service to students; the chair emphasized that students must receive breakfast and lunch even if their account has insufficient funds and that steps to collect unpaid balances are directed at guardians rather than students.

The draft also spells out the district’s notification practice: automated emails for low or zero balances and, after multiple notices, a written communication and possible phone calls to parents. The chair said the district recently received a private donation she believed was about $2,000 that would allow the district to clear outstanding meal debt if needed (amount not precisely recalled in the meeting).

The subcommittee indicated the meal‑charging policy is relatively short and straightforward and could move to the full board in May; members raised no objections to sending it forward. The chair said the model legal references and administrative steps will also be placed into staff handbooks and disseminated to families.

Next steps: the subcommittee will send the proposed policy language to the full board for review; no formal vote was taken at the subcommittee meeting.