P.E.I. School Food Program website down until fall

At least 3,500 parentswho use the P.E.I. School Food Program will no longer be able to pre-pay for their children's meals until next year.

The government-subsidized school food program offers two weeks' worth of lunch menu optionsfor students in K-12 that their parents can buyin advance on a pay-what-you-can modelup to $5 per meal.

On May 14, the website to order online shut down due to technical issues.

The program sent an email to parents Wednesday to tell them aboutthe problem.

"Our team is working hard to resolve these issues prior to the next school year so that we can continue to offer the service to students,"saidKatelyn MacLean, the food program's executive director.

MacLean said mail orders have already been secured until May 27 and the contingency plans to supplement the rest of the year don't start until May 30.

One of the plans is toplace the same 25,000 orders it received from the last ordering cycle.

This meansparents who ordered meals for May 16-27will continue receiving the same meals for their children until June 24 this would cover most of the students who regularly use the food program, she said.

Parents who were not able to order mealsbut want their children to continue getting them are advised to contact the programby May 25 at noon.

MacLean said they also plantosending extrameals to all schools to accommodate thosewho did not meet the May 25 deadline.

Parents are still encouraged to pay what they can.

She said food that is not eatenwill get redistributed to other students or staff.

"Our program is a lunch service, but there are students out there who need suppers and snacks and other meals as well," said MacLean.

"So our schools play a really valuable role in making sure that students get the meals that they've ordered, and those who may not be thereor may not want them can be redistributed."

Some parents have already called about the disruption, but MacLean said the feedback has been good.

"I think everybody's understanding ... there are times when technical issues do happen and we are doing our best," she said.