SIKESTON SCHOOLS TO OFFER CARDS FOR STUDENT LUNCHES

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Running short of cash is a problem for many youths, but a new lunch plan may make life simpler for Sikeston School District students.

The district's food service department this year will begin using a computerized card system for students to purchase lunches.

Officials in the Cape Girardeau district hope to have a similar program in place in two years. For now, only Louis J. Schultz students are involved in an identification card program.

Although a number of school districts use the program, it is new to Sikeston.

It works this way:

Envelopes will be sent home during the first week of school. Parents will be asked to place inside the amount of money they wish the students to use for meals. Parents can purchase their child's meals on a yearly, monthly or weekly basis. They can choose to deposit any amount they want. All funds left in the child's account at the end of the year will be refunded or carried over to the next school year.

Food services makes the school menus a month in advance, which will allow parents and their children to decide which days students will want to eat lunch at school.

"Our district has been reviewing programs and visiting districts using the system for a couple of years now," said Lori Boardman, director of food services. "We have a large district, and with USDA requirements for monitoring nutrient values of the food that is served, it is hard to track the meals by hand. The computers will be more efficient and should speed up lunch lines, which will give students more time to eat.

At the beginning of school, secondary students will receive cards displaying their picture, name and a bar code that will correspond to their account.

Elementary-age students will go through the lunch line with their classroom. The cashier will have a class roster which will display a picture of each student and a barcode that corresponds to the student's account. Each time a purchase is made, the amount will be deducted from the student's account. Students must have the card with them when going through the lunch line.

"Parents will like the fact that we keep track of everything the students eat so we can make a printout for them," Boardman said. "Maybe they gave little Jimmy $20 for the week and it's gone in two days, and they're wondering what he ate that used up the money so quickly. We can tell them exactly what he spent the money on."

Boardman said students on the free and reduced lunch plan will see an immediate benefit to the new system.

"A lot of these students, especially the older ones, don't want to go to the office to get a meal ticket. We have never publicized that certain individuals were on the free and reduced lunch plan, but everyone knows what the tickets mean," Boardman said.

Some students feel a reduced lunch carries a stigma and find the situation embarrassing.

With the card, no one knows, Boardman said.