School lunch refunds?!

I am a teacher and also a parent. In my school, if a child is absent the lunch order isn’t put through to the kitchen and the child’s account is refunded. You shouldn’t be expected to pay for something you’ve not received.

It very likely will be coming out of the school’s budget.

The school will subsidise in all likelihood

Most schools use outside catering companies and aren’t paying for the food themselves.
I’m not suggesting they can afford to lose money either, but it’s not coming out of the school budget.

This sounds nuts! I’m in Scotland and our system is like how you said yours used to be. You just make sure there is enough money in the kids account and the teacher takes orders in the morning. Only p6 and p7 pay for lunches here though. I would not be happy not to be refunded for lunches my kid couldn’t eat through no fault of their own!

All that wasted time

when an online system whereby amendments can be made up until midnight the day before… is so much more sensible.

Naturally there will be parents like the OP who think that isn’t good enough, and they should get money back if they call up on the morning

I used to work in a school office about 6 years ago. I would get the registers and in each one there would be a note from the teacher saying how many for packed lunch, school dinners and any special diets. I would add them all up and phone the kitchen to give them the numbers.

So this school allows parents to make amendments right up to midnight the night before ie roll over the booked lunch to another date.

However, the OP wants a cash refund and to be able to call up on the morning.

Honestly , I feel for these schools

I work in a school and if a child is absent they are not charged for a dinner, even if they pre order one online, even if they order one at morning registration but then go home sick mid morning.
are you sure your school actually charge when the child is absent?
i would surprised if any school do this

my kids school has a lunch booking system and I pay a month in advance but if they don’t go in then they aren’t charged. The kids are asked by the teacher in the morning whether they are having packed lunch or which option of school dinner they would like from the menu. They must feed this back to the kitchen and only then does the money come off your account.

I wouldn’t expect a refund or credit for same day or short notice cancellation for illness because that food has been ordered / paid for.

Same with wraparound I wouldn’t expect a refund of late cancellation.

But I think the school should have a clear policy on this.

My kids school uses school gateway app for booking lunches and does issue a refund if they're off. I was surprised though and assumed they wouldn't...

I disagree. If the meal has been ordered then it needs paying for with cancellation at such short notice. They have a cut off of the night before and that's it.

I tend to book and pay for a month of lunches at a time. If for any reason dd isn't at school for a lunch I've booked- illness, school trip or whatever - the money is credited back to my account the same day.

Ours don’t charge if off but they ask the children in the morning. Our lunches are cooked off site though in a larger school kitchen then hot boxes are delivered with what’s been ordered that day. Dinner ladies just really serve and clean. I think between the schools the bigger kitchen is catering for about 1000 kids. So there’s a decent amount give in the system. Lots of the food seems like it’d have an extended shelf life. Frozen fish. Frozen burgers. Chicken curry from giant catering tins. Pasta. Rice. Token bit of broccoli and sslad bar is only fresh stuff.

My DC are at secondary school now so it's a pay as you go system. But when they were at primary we paid a fixed amount per lunch and didn't get a refund if they were off school ill.

Can't the money just stay in their account until they are well again. As soon as my kid was going to be absent I would hope the absence would link to the kitchen list and their name wouldn't appear that day? If not then I'd specify to please cancel the lunch as soon as I knew.

@Flakey99
Every penny adds up and many parents can’t afford to waste money.

but also

Every penny adds up and many schools can’t afford to waste money.

In any event, the op could change to another day if she made the change the night before, which seems very reasonable.

The primary school lunches are all free now where we are. However, back when we were charged for food we had to book in advance but the money was only deducted from your account when the child actually received the meal. If they weren't in for whatever reason then the money stayed on the ParentPay account to be used another time.

Irrelevant. Parents shouldn’t be paying out money for food if their child isn’t in school. Every penny adds up and many parents can’t afford to waste money.

In my day, you purchased a token daily for 50p and if you weren’t in, you didn’t buy a token.

In DS’s school they pay for meals at the food counter with a smart card but DS doesn’t bother with them.

We’ve never been refunded when calling in sick on the day but to be honest I never expected to be.

We have to book a week or more in advance and have never been refunded.

Ours don't do refunds but previously I found that if I took the lunch option off and moved it to another day before 8am then the money would just get transferred across.
I imagine the kitchen has a cut off point early in the morning so it is just bad luck if you call after to cancel (I imagine the office isn't staffed til after 8).

You can book up until the night before
AND
You can make amendments until the night before

You just can’t get your money back. Completely reasonably.

So to be clear

as long as you make an amendment the night before… you can roll over the lunch to another day.

that seems VERY fair when we’re talking about perishable items.

in any event, your child has school lunch once or twice a week. So just book the day before.

how often has your child been off sick and it’s coincided with a day that you’ve booked and you’ve only known sick on the morning of the booked school lunch day?