NASHUA — New federal guidelines are prompting local school officials to adopt a new policy on how the district charges student meals.

At the elementary schools, students who have no money in their lunch accounts will be permitted three unpaid lunches, according to Jeanette Kimbell, food services director for the Nashua School District.

After that, they will be offered an alternative meal consisting of a sunflower butter and jelly sandwich, fruit, vegetable and milk.

At the middle schools, students will be allowed two unpaid lunches, and then given an alternative lunch consisting of a sandwich and water, according to Kimbell.

At the high schools, however, students will not be allowed a lunch unless they have cash available or money in their account, said Kimbell.

“This is definitely another piece that is being dictated by federal regulations,” she told members of the Board of Education, which this week adopted a new policy on how city schools will handle students who have no money in their lunch accounts, and do not have cash to pay for a meal.

At the end of each school year, Nashua has about $6,000 to $8,000 in uncollected meal payments, Kimbell said.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture no longer allows school districts that receive free and reduced-price lunches to accumulate any debt for their food service programs.

As a result, school lunches can no longer go unpaid, and unpaid balances cannot accumulate, she said.

“Our mission is not to be debt collectors. We are in the business of feeding students. We don’t want them to go hungry,” said Kimbell.

According to Kimbell, high school students in Nashua are now prohibited from accumulating debt on their accounts, but they can borrow money from a friend or contact a parent to have them instantly place money into their accounts.

Applications for free and reduced-price lunches are also readily available, she added.

It is not often that a high school student has a negative account balance, Kimbell said, but it does happen occasionally. Parents will be notified when this occurs, she said.

At the end of the school year, unpaid student accounts with a deficit may, upon the decision of the superintendent or food services director, be assigned to a collection agency, according to the new policy.

Sandra Ziehm, board member, was the only school board member opposed to the new policy.

“I would give them the food,” Ziehm said, expressing concern about high school students not being able to obtain a meal. A 10th-grade student can get just as hungry as a first-grader, argued Ziehm.

Earlier this summer, Nashua school officials approved lunch price increases that will be put in place at the start of the school year.

Lunches are up by 10 cents at the elementary schools and 25 cents at the high schools in light of a new federal mandate to bring prices in line with actual costs.

The new law requires districts within the next few years to charge the same amount as federal lunch subsidies, which is around $2.72 per meal.

Elementary lunches will increase from $2.25 to $2.35, and high school lunches will increase from $2.50 to $2.75. Middle school lunches will remain at $2.50.

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Kimberly Houghton may be reached at khoughton@newstote.com.