Bagels and Bar Codes

The photo IDs that students carry with them each day is now being used for more than identification. Now their ID gives the kids a convenient way to pay for breakfast or lunch at school.

Food service management tools, such as those offered by NutriKids™, offer school districts software applications to manage their lunch programs. But the tools that streamline the business of feeding kids at school also improve family life in some simple ways.

In my school district, I can go to NutriKids.com, a secure and family-friendly site, where I can make online prepayments into my children’s school meal account using a credit or debit card, or PayPal™ service. No more hectic mornings scrambling for cash or children forgetting their lunch money!

In the cafeteria, my boys pass their student ID under a scanner to pay for their purchases. The scanner reads the bar code on the ID, and stores the information in their account. Now I have access to a transaction history, so I can see what it is they are buying and how much they are spending.

I can also sent up a low-balance email notification so that when the account balance reaches a pre-set level, I can add more funds to the account.

The bar coded student ID gives me a simple solution to a daily hassle, making the morning rush out the door just a bit easier.