Kennewick Schools Take Meal Pay Online
Posted on: Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 12:00 CDT
Aug. 16--Kennewick parents won't have to dig into their pockets for spare change in the mornings so their son or daughter can buy a slice of pizza for lunch.
Starting this year, parents can sign up online to pay for their child's school meal account.
The system, called MealTime Online, allows parents to make payments, view transactions and check an account balance via the Web.
Sam Shick, food service director for Kennewick schools, recounted a common scenario: a student brings a check from home for lunch but loses it in a backpack or drops it in a mud puddle.
"It's one less thing a parent has to worry about," he said.
And for parents who also fret about what their kids are eating, the new program may help that too.
If a student buys french fries and a cinnamon roll -- a la carte menu items that are separate from a complete lunch -- they will show on the Web site.
MealTime was created by Portland-based CLM Group, which develops computer software for school administrative services. Kennewick already uses CLM's program called MealTime Point of Service -- a computer program that tracks what students eat at each school.
Robbie Whitecotton, president of CLM, said schools in Kennewick are the only schools in the Mid-Columbia offering MealTime to their students.
The company piloted the program in October with Highline School District in Burien. The trial was so successful that Whitecotton offered it to other schools. About 100 schools in other states are using the program.
In Woodland, parents have started using MealTime to pay for student lunches, as well as for sports and other program fees, she said.
"This is the wave of the future," she said. "With all the other online stores -- people paying their bills online, buying airline tickets online -- we never had any concern parents wouldn't accept it."
Parents with students at any Kennewick school can register their student through MealTime. The Web site uses security systems comparable to that of a bank's site.
For each deposit, there is a 4.9 percent bank fee. Parents will receive a receipt to print out and an e-mail to verify the deposit.
Shick said the Internet system will cut back on the time and paperwork required to update student accounts and, in turn, will save the district money, though how much is not yet known.
Students attending a different school this year may not yet be registered in the computer system, but Shick said any glitches should be fixed by Friday.
Parents can sign up at www.mymealtime.com.
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Source: Tri-City Herald
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