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Digital Diet: Online payments are now available for school mealsJan 14, 2009 (Richmond Register - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Parents of students in the Madison County School District will soon have the option of paying for their children's school meals on the Internet. The program is being phased in, with parents of Kit Carson and White Hall elementary students the first to be informed about the new program. The option will be available to all schools, which will be informed in the coming weeks, said Emily Agee, district food service director. The district serves more than 6,000 meals, including breakfast and lunch, each school day. That comes to more than 1 million meals each school year. Lunches cost $2 each, while breakfasts are $1.10. "This is a new system for us, so we wanted to start up in phases," Agee said. By paying on-line, parents will not have to worry about small children losing cash or checks sent to school with them. "We've never been able to offer credit or debit card payments," Agee said, "and we hope this new option will be convenient for parents." The system also allows parents to track which cafeteria options their children are choosing, and when they are eating. On-line payments can be made directly from credit or debit cards as well as checking accounts. Each checking account payment will be charged a $1 transaction fee, while credit/debit cards will be charged $1 per transaction, plus 1.99 percent. Recurring payments can be scheduled and e-mail notices of when an account balance is running low can be arranged. To participate in on-line services, parents should go to madison.kyschools.us and click on the Food Service On-Line link in the lower right hand side of the page. Before attempting to register, Agee recommends that parents read the detailed instructions available by clicking on the New to Online Services? link of the Food Services page. Parents must know their students' school identification numbers. Parents who need to get an ID number may request them by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected]. On-line payments may be accomplished only on computers used the Windows operating system and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher. Bill Robinson can be reached at [email protected] or at 623-1669, Ext. 267. To see more of the Richmond Register or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.richmondregister.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Richmond Register, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |