mmarincic posted on April 08, 2011 07:26
New technology similar to checkout machines used in stores will make getting through the lunch line faster and easier.
Known as point of sale, this technology allows students to pay for their lunch by logging into an electronic account that parents can restock over the Internet.
“It has advantages in a lot of ways,” Food Services Director Teresa Welty said. “There are no tickets to keep track of and punch.
“It’s proven that lunch lines move faster, which benefits students and staff and is time-efficient. And it’s completely confidential, which is a huge reason I like the program.”
Programs allowing parents to deposit money into their child’s lunch fund online are already used in local school systems, including Liberty-Benton and Van Buren.
Cafeteria employee Tina Rumschlag asked her former boss about using the technology here nine years ago, but nothing came of it.
“I have a friend who is a cashier at Hopewell-Loudon (High School) and really likes the system; they’ve had it for several years,” the lunchroom cashier said. “It’s odd we’re this far behind because most schools have it by now.”
Having worked with similar systems before, Principal Victoria Swartz assures the devices are “parent- and student-friendly,” especially for those on special lunch plans.
“It helps keep students’ dignity intact if they are on free or reduced lunch because they don’t have to use a ticket that shows they are different,” Swartz said.
The system also acts as a security measure, preventing students from spending their parents’ money on items other than lunch and making sure someone isn’t getting two lunches or taking another student’s lunch ticket or free/reduced lunch.
“I’m very happy about it,” Rumschlag said. “It will be easier to track student lunches, since technically students are only allowed to buy one lunch per day by law.
“We’ve also had fraud. A girl last year used another name to get free lunches the entire year and we didn’t catch her.”
Point of sale machines would prevent this type of theft because a picture of the student appears on the screen when their student ID number is entered.
Along with the photo, information about the student appears, such as food allergies.
“If the student has a peanut allergy, for example, and a cashier sees that child trying to buy a nutty bar, they can stop them,” Swartz said. “It’s a failsafe for allergies.”
With all of these benefits, the Food Services director is gung-ho to get point of sale machines installed in the cafeteria.
“I’m very open to the idea and familiar with it,” Welty said. “It’s just a matter of accepting that it’s time to move forward in the Food Services Department.”