Tulsa World: School meals can be bought online

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School meals can be bought online
TPS is introducing a new Web-based pay system.

By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Published: 8/20/2009 2:39 AM
Last Modified: 8/20/2009 4:38 AM

Apply for free or reduced-price meals in Tulsa Public Schools.

Pay for your child’s Tulsa Public Schools meals online.

Forget to send your child to school with lunch money? Need to apply for free or reduced-rate meals? Thanks to new online offerings at Tulsa Public Schools, quick fixes are just a click away.

The district is introducing an online payment system called PaySchools, which lets parents pay for school meals by bank draft or credit card.

The district also has made applying for free or reduced-price meals more convenient with an application that parents can submit online.

Turning in free and reduced-rate meal applications early in the school year is critical to the district because an inaccurate student count can affect the district's budget, said Kit Hines, director of operations for the Child Nutrition Department.

"This not only generates income for the district's general fund, it also helps with TPS' E-rate, which is the discount we get for telecommunications and Internet services," Hines said.

Hines said the number of students receiving free or reduced-price meals also is used by the Tulsa City-County Library system to qualify for E-rate discounts on telecommunications and Internet access and by individual schools in the district to qualify for federal Title I funds.

In addition to receiving free or low-cost meals, older students can benefit from eligibility by getting a waiver on fees for Advanced Placement exams, as well as for the PSAT, SAT and ACT exams, Hines said.

Students who were eligible last year can continue receiving free or reduced-price meals through Sept. 16 at year-round schools and through Oct. 1 at traditional-calendar schools. If new applications aren't submitted by those dates, free or low-cost meal service will be cut off to those students, Hines said.

Besides submitting the application online, parents can print out a form or pick one up at their child's school and either return it to the school or return it in person or mail it to the TPS Child Nutrition Department, 8934 E. Latimer St., Tulsa, OK 74115.

All household members can be listed on one application, meaning that parents don't have to turn in separate applications for multiple children or for children who attend different Tulsa schools.

The PaySchools online payment system also makes it easier for parents to pay for their children's school meals. The system allow parents to track their payment history and to make payments at any time.

A $1.95 convenience fee is charged for each transaction. Payments should be posted by 6 a.m. the next business day.

Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer

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