In the old days, if you forgot your lunch money as you headed off for school, you were out of luck. If your friends didn't take pity on you and share, you would spend the remainder of the school day listening to your stomach growl.

Those days are gone. In these high-tech times, many schools are making it easier for parents to ensure that, however forgetful their children might be, they'll always be able to eat. These schools use automated messaging systems to notify parents when the funds for food run low. Parents can then make a payment immediately, via the Web.

This two-way communication system is key to building strong partnerships with families, says Jeff St. Cyr, Internet Database Specialist for the Collier County (Fla.) School District. "It's great to have one-way communication from schools," he says, but two-way is better. In Collier County, when a family's food balance is depleted, an automated telephone call is made to the home. Once parents receive the message, they can visit the school's Web page to pay online. Families without Internet access can call the nutritional services department to make a deposit into their child's account.

Such transactions give parents peace of mind, St. Cyr suggests. "Rather than send money to school with the child which could get lost,parents have handled the matter."

School's benefit, too. Because the Collier County's automated systems are integrated with the district's bookkeeping system, the deposits are seamless and as immediate as possible. In a county that serves roughly 38,000 lunches a day, the automated system makes it much easier for staff to keep the lunch line moving swiftly.
 

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