Business Office

• The lunch payment process is automated for both the parents and the district so errors are minimized and the process is standardized.
• Cashiers spend less time taking cash at the serving
• lines so lines move more quickly and also decrease the amount of contact when making a purchase. 
• Additionally, there is not a chance of lost lunch money from home to the serving lines!
• Payments can be made by credit card or ACH (electronic checking) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the parents' convenience.
• Parents can review what their students are actually purchasing along with account balance information.
• PaySchools Central supports increased communication between the school & the parents.

• Student lunch and fee balance information is readily available to the parents, the district and the school staff.
• Parents can opt to receive an email when a student balance dips to certain threshold (set by the parent).
• Parents can opt to use an automatic payment feature which replenishes their student account(s) when a balance dips to a specific level (specified by the parent).
• School messages are automatically emailed to parents.
• A continuous online survey is provided to monitor parent feedback and ideas.
• Student information is automatically transferred from year-to­ year and from school-to-school.
• Parents can manage more than one student account.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Mountain Lakes School District uses a POS (point of sale) cash register system in all the cafeterias, which allows you to have your cash or checks deposited directly into your child's lunch debit account! This will reduce time-consuming cash transactions and make our lunch lines move much faster.

Note that while cash is still accepted in all the cafeterias, our hope is that many parents will appreciate and utilize the ease and convenience of prepaying for their child's lunch. This will also help to move the line more quickly and decrease the amount of contact when making a purchase.  You will rest assured that there will be no more lost or forgotten lunch money and that your prepaid funds will be held safely in trust by the school district!

Additionally, our optional web based payment program that was formally called PayForIt has changed names.  It is now called PaySchools Central.  This program allows parents to pay by credit card or electronic check (ACH). Note that there is an internet convenience fee associated with payment by credit card or ACH, whereas there is no fee to put money on account at the register by cash or check. Those of you currently using this system from previous years will be able to add your newly enrolled elementary school child to your existing Payforit account. Further information on PaySchools can be found by clicking HERE.

As a parent, you can also choose whether your child can have unrestricted use of prepaid funds, (meaning that they can purchase anything sold in their school's cafeteria), or if you prefer, you can restrict your child's purchases to “Lunch Only.” There is also the ability to post a note to your child's account advising of food allergies. Please call our cafeteria office at 973-335-9179 if you would like to restrict or note your child's lunch account.

All middle and high school students should bring all deposits directly to their school's cafeteria. Elementary students will hand their deposit to their classroom teacher in the mornings. For Elementary students we ask that you send in all transactions with your child's name clearly printed on the envelope. Note that we encourage you to send as large a dollar amount as possible. For your convenience, the larger the amount you send, the fewer times during the year you will have to remember to replenish your child's account. Checks/money orders should be made payable to ‘Mountain Lakes Board of Education.” Again, although it is preferred that students utilize the new debit system; cash will still be accepted at all POS registers.

If you have any questions, you can contact our cafeteria office at 973-335-9179 for assistance or myself at 973-334-8280.
 

Sincerely,

Mr. Alex Ferreira
School Business Administrator/Board Secretary

(as of 4/7/2021)