Coventry families can no longer pay for school meals through MySchoolBucks; cash and checks remain, and Sodexo says every student will still get a meal. Restoring the service would cost about $15,000 that is not budgeted, and a proposed vending machine may wait until that is settled.
Coventry, R.I. — The Coventry School Committee heard Thursday night that a new Rhode Island law capping school-meal payment fees at 2% led to the deactivation of MySchoolBucks, the online system many families used to put money on lunch accounts, according to the Coventry School Committee’s published meeting recording.
Speakers said the change has brought parent confusion, more meal debt and lower participation. They also said restoring the service under its new price, roughly $15,000 a year, is not in the budget. The item was listed for discussion only, and the committee took no vote.
What changed for families
A new Rhode Island law requires public schools to offer at least one no-fee way to pay for meals and caps transaction and processing fees on meal payments at 2% of each transaction…