Not sure how to handle this...wwyd?

[3littlebirds]

Looking for some thoughts on how to approach this situation with DD's school. My DD is 6 and in half-day Kindergarten this year. She gets a snack break that is very short (we have always been told to pack something she can "eat/drink in 5-8 minutes"). Up until recently I had put money in an account for her to draw upon to buy milk a few times a week. Milk is $.65.
A couple of months ago she and I decided to stop with the milk because she regularly complained that she didnt have time to drink it. She struggled a bit with this because it's a popular thing among her friends.... We compromised. I allowed her to use up the $ left in the account and now offer flavored milk in her thermos a couple times a week.
Flash forward to today when I get a bill from the school for about $10. They allowed my 6 yo to accrue a debt!!?!?
I addressed it with her... She was honest and told me that she had gotten the milk numerous times and knew it was not the right choice.... I'm not even focused on that.... I get that... What I dont get is how the school, without my permission, would let her, a Kindgartener, "charge" milk?
How do I address this with the school without ruffling feathers? I believe the milk comes from the outsourced cafeteria and that they are the ones that hand it out... Am I being nuts? I just feel kind of angered that they took advantage of my kid!!? Please let me know your thoughts about it.

[Clarity]

That is how those lunch account systems work and why my dd does not have an account nor will she ever. If my dd wants something from the cafeteria she takes cash in hand and pays for it. I think it teaches her that things cost money, how to USE money and it prevents her from getting "extras" whenever she wants. ( My dd packs and does not need Popsicles every day at lunch, thank you very much.)

[ahisma]

Totally normal here. I froze my DD's account over excessive pop tart purchases. Pop tarts are not food!

[khm]

Hmm, I don't know. I think if you reverse the situation, the school would be denying a kid milk, who apparently wants milk, when it might just be that the parent may have just spaced off topping up the account.

Ideally, you should have been notified way before $10, but I can't fault them for letting her "charge". We get emails when the account is below a set number we pick. I set $15 so I have plenty of days to space it off before they are actually in the red..... ;)

ETA - Interesting about the junk food options! Our kids can get chocolate milk, but def no popsicles or poptarts!

[hillview]

yeah I'd go with close the account and give her cash. I would even leave say enough for an emergency milk in her backpack that she can use if needed -- but if it goes away every day then nothing.

[ett]

That is how our lunch account works too. They allow you to go in the red by $10 before not allowing any more charges, and then you get this free simple lunch (so no child will go hungry.) The school used to have snacks available daily and ice cream available on Fridays but you were able to make note in your account to not allow your child to buy those at all. (They have since gotten rid of snack and ice cream completely.) But milk is not a snack so not sure how the school would handle that.

I would check the school's lunch account policy before addressing it with them. Are you able to check online what she buys so you can monitor it?

[3littlebirds]

Thanks for the replies. I feel less frustrated hearing that it's a common occurance... They don't allow the kids to bring in money daily. It has to go through the account, otherwise I would go with that plan. I think I will suspend the account for now. I always pack more than she needs and she has a say about what her snacks are... She really doesn't have a need to purchase anything. Thanks again!!

[boolady]

I'm not exactly seeing how they took advantage of your kid. There are terms to those accts- ours also allows it to go $10 into the red. I think they do it so that if you don't remember to put $$ in there your kid doesn't go without food and/or drink. Does your acct system send a low balance notice?

Did you let the teacher know you didn't want your DD buying milk anymore?

[KrisM]

Here, you can only go below zero on an actual lunch. Milk is not necessary and if the kid has no drink, they'll get a glass of water to drink. DD buys milk daily for lunch and I forgot to put money in and she was denied milk that day. I think if it was otherwise, I'd be sending in cash, too.

[vonfirmath]

My son was eating breakfast at home, then going to school and eating breakfast as well.

For a while it got better, then he started doing it again.

I went in to school and told them he was NOT allowed to buy breakfast. He can still buy lunch but there has been no more breakfast bought. Problem solved.

[3isEnough]

I'm not exactly seeing how they took advantage of your kid. There are terms to those accts- ours also allows it to go $10 into the red. I think they do it so that if you don't remember to put $$ in there your kid doesn't go without food and/or drink. Does your acct system send a low balance notice?

:yeahthat: And I actually consider the ability to "overdraw" the account a benefit since my kids wouldn't have otherwise received a lunch on a few occasions. I don't monitor the balance at all, I deposit a few hundred dollars every few months and when I receive a call that their accounts are overdrawn by a few dollars, I redeposit $100 per kid. I'm embarrassed to admit how infrequently we pack the kids' lunches lately.

[new_mommy25]

DD's school doesn't accept cash. Everything is charged. They always allow a child to overdraw. They would not deny a child milk. However we get a notice every time the balance gets low, <$5, and get notices every day we are overdrawn. I'm guilty of being overdrawn because sometimes DD doesn't get the notes to me or I don't have time to go to the office. I'm glad they don't deny my child food. In your case though I would be upset because the whole situation could have been avoided if they sent a notice the first time your DD overdrew her account.