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The Schalmont Food Services
Department began using the NUTRIKIDS Point
of Sale (POS) Computer System to improve the speed, accuracy and
privacy of cafeteria purchases in 2009.
Prior to that, Schalmont was one of the few
districts in the Capital District still using a paper system of
recording meals. The switch was made so our cafeterias would run
more efficiently and be more accurate in reporting to the state
Education Department.
Under the POS system, all students are
issued a four digit pin number to use for all meal plan-based
cafeteria purchases, both breakfast and lunch. Each student’s pin number will
remain the same throughout his/her K-12 education.
"For students, the benefit is not having to
remember to get lunch money from mom or dad every day. Also,
when you purchase a 20-meal plan, you get a bonus meal," said
Marcy von Maucher, director of
Food Services.
A student who does not have a meal plan will
still have a four digit pin number, but he/she may choose not to
use it and instead pay by cash.
Purchasing a Meal
Under this system, the process for
purchasing a cafeteria item at the MS or HS will be as follows:
A student selects food/beverage items in the
cafeteria.
A student enters a pin number on a key pad
by the cashier.
If a student has forgotten his/her pin
number, the cashier finds it and the student’s account by
searching an alphabetical listing of student names.
Once a pin number is entered, a student’s
name, photograph and any food allergies will appear on the
cashier’s POS computer screen. The screen will not display a
student’s free or reduced lunch status.
The cashier will then scan the student’s
selected items.
At the elementary schools, students will not
have to memorize a pin number because the cashier will access a
class roster on the computer system and select students by name.
Parent Perks
Parents can go online to add money – via credit card – to their
students’ meal plan accounts. They may also review
their children’s purchases by accessing an online database of
information linked to their children’s individual pin numbers.
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