PFISD Summer Community Feeding Sites

As we shared with Staff and Families in the past few weeks, due to a large balance of unpaid lunch charges owed to PfISD (more than $180,000 at this time), PfISD has reinstituted a pre-COVID policy of substituting the main entrée for those students who currently owe more than $6 on their lunch account. We have received several questions and seen social media content raising questions about the policy, and we wanted to share more information with our staff and parents. 

We know that good nutrition is a cornerstone of a student's well-being, and although the entrée is substituted for a sandwich, the students are allowed to keep all sides included with the regular lunch meal. District and Aramark staff have reached out to families to attempt to set up a payment plan and have the families complete the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Application, which would reduce or eliminate the cost for these students to eat lunch. We will continue these efforts.

We have a balance deficit of over $180,000 due to unpaid lunches –ten times the previous norm. The district was fortunate enough to leverage federal funding and offer several years of free lunch options for students due to Covid. Unfortunately, those federal funds have decreased or ended. We began informing families last summer that the free lunches were no longer available for students for the 23-24 school year. Pflugerville ISD has been lucky to be one of the few districts still offering free breakfast to all students. 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees school lunches, school districts must pay for any outstanding school lunch balances from their general fund at the end of the school year. We must redirect funds away from students' programs and teachers' resources to meet this federal payment requirement. In Pre-Covid years, the district could expect to see a negative lunch balance of $16,000 - $18,000 at the end of the year. This year, we increased our budget for unpaid meal accounts to $30,000K in anticipation of growing needs within our district. Additionally, PfISD has not raised meal prices in 5 years. Since 2011, the USDA has mandated price increases for school lunches; however, districts with positive fund balances can opt out and NOT increase the price of school lunches, which PfISD has done.

MySchoolBucks (Lunch Payment System)
PfISD uses MySchoolBucks as its payment processing system for school lunches. This is a preferred system used by many school districts in our area, and is one of the largest providers of this type of payment system.

Any parent or guardian can place funds on their child's account via MySchoolBucks. The $2.75 surcharge by the vendor is per transaction, whether you put $5 on a student's account or $5,000. We have tried negotiating surcharges for MySchoolBucks in the past but have yet to be able to reduce their fees.

To enroll in My SchoolBucks and pay for lunch meals online: 

1. Go to www.MySchoolBucks.com and register for a free account.
2. You will receive a confirmation email with a link to activate your account.
3. Add your students using their school name and student ID (Just the number, no "s" needed before the numbers).
4. Make a payment to your student's accounts with your credit/debit card (there is a $2.75 charge per transaction) or echeck.

A program fee may apply. You will have the opportunity to review any fees and cancel if you choose before you are charged. 

If you have any questions, contact MySchoolBucks directly:

• parentsupport@myschoolbucks.com
• 1-855-832-5226
• Visit myschoolbucks.com and click on Help/FAQ's

Parents can also pay for their child's lunches via check or cash. Checks can be made out to Pflugerville ISD. Payment can be sent with a student to give to cafeteria workers, parents may bring the deposit to the school cafeteria, or they can deliver it to the Aramark office (Pflugerville IS Food and Child Nutrition Services Office, 1401C W. Pecan St., Pflugerville, TX 78660)

Board Agenda Item
Food service funds can only be spent on food service-related items. Costs can include the percentage of square feet of a campus used for food services (kitchen, servery, dining room) applied to utilities; cafeteria FFE including tables; and kitchen equipment. 

The items on the board agenda reflect food service items needed to sustain the program. Many items are original pieces of equipment at respective schools for which the district and Aramark are diligent in maintaining. They are replaced as they are obsolete, have obsolete or costly parts, or are a safety concern. Without a food service fund, these would be paid for by general fund.

Limiting A La Carte items
Parents have always had the ability to limit their child's account and choices. There are instructions on the district's website under Food Services, or you can complete this form and email it to denise.meserole@pfisd.net 

A La Carte Item Prices
Regarding the pricing of a la carte items, PfISD prices are already significantly lower in comparison to a local drive-thru coffee shop; PfISD found the following-

• PfISD Otis Spunkmeyer muffins ($1.55) vs. coffee shop "muffin top" ($4.55)
• PfISD 12 oz coffee (when sold) ($1.95) vs. coffee shop ($3.10)
• PfISD 12 oz latte (when sold) ($3.25) vs. coffee shop ($5.45)
• PfISD Large cookie ($1.25) vs. coffee shop ($3.95)
• *To note- USDA requires specific sizes and nutrients deemed healthy via SMART SNACK initiatives.

Regarding the contract with Aramark

• Aramark purchases all the food and staffs the labor at their cost. 
• Aramark can only take annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for each annual renewal of a five-year contract. In the last three years, the timing and the rate of CPI versus actual inflation have not been equivalent. CPI has not kept up with the cost of food/ inflation.
• If food cost or labor wage leveling occurs, Aramark incurs that, not PfISD.
• Aramark absorbs the cost of a replaced meal. A replaced entrée is the price of two entrees (the discarded one and the sandwich). The district does not incur this cost.