From what little you've said, I would guess the school officials would see reports that showed ... for a specific period, say one month ... out of 100 children, 25 ate school lunch five days a week; 25 ate school lunch 3 days a week; 40 ate school lunch 2 days a week; and 10 did not ever eat a school lunch.

It doesn't mean that they know that Amy Smith didn't eat school lunch ... just that her number falls into a group that didn't eat school lunch.

We do that type of reporting frequently at work, and really don't drill down to the nth degree. But even if they did, I don't know why Amy Smith's parents would have a problem with a report that showed she did not eat a school provided lunch. What harm could there be? (I mean that sincerely, I often don't think of things that other people do)

Many, if not all, schools do it. Our little town assigns a lunch number to all students...ours is a 4 digit number.

DGS Drew started kindergarten this fall. He had to memorize a 6 digit number that is "his" until he graduates. Hunter has one also. Their Mom doesn't have a problem with it. It is used to keep track of their lunch money/tickets and when they need to pay again.

I thought 5 years old was a bit young to memorize a 6 digit number in less then a week from when they got it but the teacher does work with them in school everyday memorizing and they had help entering it into the computer when they go thru the lunch line.

ACK! Yep could be to give the school/cooks an idea of how many students out of total number eat lunch....how much to prepare etc?

Every child is given a "school number"..I'm sure in every state. It is a tracking device as in...this child checks out library books, this child eats hot lunch or buys milk/juice at lunch..this child # has met the state mandated goals for testing.

It does not "track" a child and give someone in the land of who knows where an address.....

That 5 or 6 digit number allows the school systems to stream line many of the processes it needs to move kids through a school district.

Here it follows them all the way through our school district..no matter which school they are enrolled in.

It's not some big security risk..our kids new school year photo is also linked to the screen, so in the library or the lunch room, if a kid "borrows" someones else's number it's noticed ASAP..

Because I work in our school district with many different hats..I work in Food Service, Libraries, class rooms and school offices..I know a bit more than the average parent about "how it works"..

Food service, runs a report everyday after lunch is served on "numbers" it shows that "x many kids" bought lunch, "y" many kids were on free lunch, "z" many kids were on reduced lunch. And "a" many kids didn't purchase a lunch. It also will kick out low diner balance notices or emails to parents.

Now this helps in the accounting department for Federal funds for the Free and Reduce lunch programs. If the school has 250 kids on the Free/Reduced, and 200 of them are on the Free..the Feds want to know that all 200 kids are using the lunch "$$" that the school is receiving for those children. As well as the 50 that qualify for the reduced rate. It also may give them a "report" that says out of 750 students at this school..300 hardly ever purchase hot lunch. 500 purchase milk and or juice.

Again it's all about an accounting system..not a "tracking" number.

In our school district and I believe it is State wide..Kids that qualify for Free/Reduced lunches also help the schools get Fed Aid in the form of Title I funds. Somewhere there has been a correlation between low income and the need for extra learning care. So the more families thaat apply and receive Free/Reduced help all the children that struggle in Reading/Writing and Math get more help with more teachers, Instructional Assistants and education materials.

As far as lunch count..that is done first thing in the morning with a "hot or cold lunch" show of hands with attendance. That then goes to the prep kitchens with a slight pad for prep to the outlying schools.

Thank you for reporting some of the other things I was not aware of. I just thought it was to check up on kids/families.

They scan a card for lunch here - that is how they keep track for deducting money for breakfast and/or lunch.

We were supposed to be able to track our lunch money online and they haven't been able to do that yet............

I am in TN and work in Food Service at a local grammar school, every thing Teri said is correct..
Another thing.... If you send $20 a week to school for your child's lunch and by Wed its gone.. You can call the school to have a report sent to you. This report will show what your child is spending his/his money on...Breakfast, lunch, and any extras they may get.
Here the only personal information we have access to..is parents names and address..No SS# or anything like that...

Our lunch numbers are used only for lunch...not for anything else..

Waddles, our school district uses Skyward Family Access..is that what your school is using? I think pretty much all the public schools in our state use it.

The food service balances and daily purchases were added only a few years ago. Before that it was just grade access.

Here is a link that might be useful: Skyward

If you're in a public school, I think they should be able to take and do what they want with the lunch numbers. I would think the public shcool system has to compile varies numbers for many things to be able to allocate funding properly, etc... If it really bothers you, I'd home school or go private.

I worked at a school district and Terri is 100% correct. Well said Terri.

It seems it's meant to track number of items sold, not to track individual children.