Changes Come to Computerized Cafeteria Payment System
On the very first day of the new school year, the Huntington School District's food service program hit the ground running, serving thousands of breakfast and lunch meals to students in seven school buildings.
While the cafeterias have resumed operations without missing a beat, change has come to the computerized system that Huntington High School and J. Taylor Finley Middle School parents utilize to pay for their child's meals.
"Last year, the nutrition and food service department implemented computerized point of sale systems to increase the level of service and provide accurate school meal accounts," said Sam Gergis, assistant superintendent for business. "The NUTRIKIDS point of sale system has been in place since then and has greatly improved the operation of our food service unit."
NUTRIKIDS moved its payment and processing service to mySchoolBucks last summer. While all of the services provided by NUTRIKIDS will remain in place, Huntington parents are being asked to conduct online transactions from this point forward through the www.myschoolbucks.com website.
"If a child has qualified for free or reduced meal prices, this information is noted in the system and the meal will be processed just as it is for all other students without any special indication to the students," Mr. Gergis said. "Parents will need to fill out a new free/reduced application for this school year. They should do so as soon as possible."
Parents who are concerned about a food allergy that their child has should notify their school cafeteria with this information. "If indicated, a warning will appear on the cashier's screen for a review of the items on the student's tray," Mr. Gergis said.
A print-out of the transactions on each child's account will also be made available to parents upon request. Huntington's food service program strives to provide students and staff with healthy, nutritious and good tasting food choices each day. Detailed monthly menus are provided to each school. These are also posted on the district's website as a link on each school's page.
Contact Mr. Gergis at (631) 673-2111 or sgergis@hufsd.edu for more information about the changes to the computerized cafeteria payment system.