Sloppy joes, chicken nuggets or nachos -- the seventh-graders at Centennial Junior High School filed into one of three lines.

They picked up plastic trays to slide along the line while they were served the dish of their choice. They picked baby carrots, fruit cups and lowfat milk -- white or chocolate.

The steady flow of hungry, talkative students moved quickly, thanks to fingerprint readers at the computerized cash register. Watching the line, there's no way to know if a student receives federal assistance or doesn't have money in his or her account to pay for the $2.25 meal. No one is turned away.

No one wants kids to go hungry, but when they don't have the money, who pays for them to eat?

Sometimes the person at the register pays. Sometimes the student eats on the principal's account. The charges to the student's account accumulate as the student travels from school to school, grade to grade, until he or she leaves the system. The tab must be paid before graduation. If the student moves away or drops out, the school district pays the tab.

More than $60,000 in unpaid meals is owed to the Natrona County School District, according to Mike Pyska, food service director. That amount changes throughout the year, as some bills are paid and others grow larger and eventually will be paid.

"We're against a rock and a hard place," Pyska said. "We want to feed kids, but how do we know where to draw the line?"

State, national problem

The district does not have a policy for how much students can charge. Neither does the federal government or state department of education. In districts where food service departments don't have a policy, that decision is left to individual schools.

Although the state department of education can recommend policy options to district food service directors, it can't impose such a policy.

"These people care about the kids," Tamra Jackson, state nutrition program supervisor, said. "They're caught in the position of trying to run a program but follow guidelines of the school district."

Ideas from around the country were shared with district food service directors in June. Cafeteria staff members in Sweetwater County School District 1 give students an apple sticker when their balance runs low.

In Durham, N.C., each school is responsible for paying its meal balance at the end of semester. The Perkins Local School District in Sandusky, Ohio, sends home an application for the Free and Reduced Price Lunch program after the third charged lunch. If the parent or guardian doesn't pay, fill out the form or make other arrangements, the principal calls children's services.

"We're looking at one end, the money, and at the other end is the family and the child," Jackson said. "In many cases, the child has no control."

Natrona County

Natrona County elementary schools always give children a meal. Meals charged are added to the student's account and follow them to middle school and high school. High schools do not allow students to charge.

Food services recommends middle and high schools stop allowing students to charge after three meals, but the final decision is up to the principal. For example, Frontier Middle School allows three meals, and CY Junior High limits charges to $12. Centennial does not have a charge limit and is the only middle school carrying a negative balance. All schools send letters home when accounts approach the limit.

School principals and cafeteria staff members said kids are never denied a meal.

"Sometimes kids know they don't have money [and] go sit in the cafeteria," Dean Braughton, principal at CY Junior High School, said. "A teacher will see it happen and send the kid through the line."

If families can't afford full-price meals, they should apply for the Free and Reduced Price Lunch program. Reduced price is 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. In 2008, 20 percent of enrolled students were eligible for the program, but only 30 percent of those eligible actually registered for the program. The turnaround time for an application is usually one day, said Pyska.

"There are some parents that -- even though they qualify -- refuse to fill out an application, and we're out that money," Pyska said.

Any district-wide policy would have to be approved by the board of trustees. Pyska has started working on a policy to establish a cutoff line and strategies for collecting payment, but it's not so simple, he said.

"When you have a district as large as ours, people want to do different things," Pyska said.

Reach education reporter Jackie Borchardt at (307) 266-0593 or at jackie.borchardt@trib.com. Read her education blog at tribtown.trib.com/reportcard

Payment help

Most meal accounts are paid by check to the school. Parents can check their child's meal account balance online, at no cost, at http://www.mynutrikids.com The site sends e-mail reminders when balances are low. The site also tracks what the child eats during a 30-day period. Parents can add to their child's account using the Web site for a $1.75 bank fee in addition to the deposit.

Free and Reduced Price Lunch applications can be found in school offices or by contacting Food Service Director Mike Pyska at (307) 253-5203.