Andre Pusey of the Alleghany Highlands Public Schools food services staff recently helped prepare 700 servings of Sloppy Joes ahead of students’ return Wednesday, Aug. 12. AHPS is encouraging families to sign up for MySchoolBucks to manage student meal accounts and add funds for approved cafeteria purchases. (AHPS Photo)
AHPS Urges Families to Sign Up for MySchoolBucks
LOW MOOR — As the start of the 2026-27 school year approaches, Alleghany Highlands Public Schools is encouraging families to sign up for MySchoolBucks, a secure online service that makes it easier to manage students' school meal accounts.
Students return to classrooms on Wednesday, Aug. 12, and AHPS officials say creating a MySchoolBucks account before the first day of school can help families begin the year with one less thing to manage.
All AHPS students are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch through the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which allows school divisions to provide meals at no cost to all students without requiring individual meal applications.
While breakfast and lunch meals are provided free of charge, MySchoolBucks gives families the option to add funds to a student’s cafeteria account for the purchase of à la carte items and other approved cafeteria purchases.
“Our goal is to make school meals as convenient and accessible as possible for every family,” said Debra Buckner, supervisor of food services for Alleghany Highlands Public Schools. “Our food services staff works hard to provide children with tasty, nutritious meals every school day. MySchoolBucks gives families a convenient way to monitor meal accounts, add funds for additional purchases and receive account updates, helping students start each school day ready to enjoy a healthy meal.”
MySchoolBucks provides parents and guardians with convenient access to meal account information from a computer, tablet or smartphone. Families with more than one student can manage all of their children's meal accounts through one parent account.
Families who create a free MySchoolBucks account can:
- View meal account balances 24 hours a day.
- Add money securely using a credit card, debit card or electronic check.
- Receive low-balance email alerts.
- Review recent meal purchases.
- Manage multiple students with one parent account.
- Access their account through the MySchoolBucks website or mobile app.
Getting started is simple. Families can visit MySchoolBucks.com, select “Sign Up for Free,” create a parent account and add their student using the requested student information.
Creating a MySchoolBucks account is free, and families can monitor meal balances and meal history at no cost. Parents who choose to add money online should note that MySchoolBucks charges a convenience fee of $3.50 for credit card payments and $2.75 for ACH (electronic check) payments. Any applicable fee is displayed before a payment is completed.
Alleghany Highlands Public Schools does not manage MySchoolBucks payments. Families with questions about payment charges or account assistance should contact MySchoolBucks Parent Support at 1-855-832-5226 or visit the MySchoolBucks Help Center.
Questions about school meals may be directed to the cafeteria manager at each school. School cafeteria managers are available to assist families with meal-related questions and provide additional information about student meal services.