School Lunch Prices Getting More Expensive?

Next school year, School District 196 students will have to remember something extra when it comes to filling their cafeteria lunch tray: They must pick up either a fruit or vegetable at every lunch.

And it's likely that many of them—and their parents—will notice another, related change: An increased lunch price.

The district's school board members on Monday heard a proposal for a 10-cent lunch price increase for elementary and high school students, as well as adults, in 2012-13. They're slated to vote on the measure at their May 14 meeting.

The increase would bring lunch prices to $2.20 for elementary, $2.35 for high school and $3.40 for adults. Middle school pricing will stay at $2.25.

The price increases are necessary, district officials say, because of mandates from the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that focus on nutrition and price equity, an effort to have all students contributing the same amount of money to their school-provided meals.

Read more about how price equity affects the district's school lunches in an .

Ignoring mandates or the price increases needed to fund them could jeopardize federal funding to the district, said district Director of Finance and Operations Jeff Solomon at Monday's meeting.

Board member Rob Duchscher asked Monday whether the district would increase prices if the mandates didn't exist; Solomon said probably not, but he did note that sales of a la carte items—bottles of juice or pre-packaged snacks, for example—have been subsidizing lunches and breakfasts in the district.

If passed, this will be the third price increase to hit District 196 lunches since the 2007-08 school year. That year, the school board approved a 20-cent jump. In 2011, the board also voted 4-2 in favor of a 5-cent increase at all levels.

Knight said District 196 lunch prices had been on the lower end compared to other area districts, many of which also have had to implement price increases this year and/or next year because of the mandates.

"You want to be considerate for the school families … but at the same time you’re also under the gun," Knight said.

The district's food service expenses don't fall under the umbrella of its general fund, which provides money for many of the district's other day-to-day functions. While that means food services don't have to compete for funding with other initiatives, it is also pressures food services to be self-sustaining.

Last year, the state calculated that it costs $3 to fund a school lunch, including food cost, purchasing and labor, Knight said, while districts charge students less than that.

Commodity and energy prices also have gone up and been passed along to food purchasers, Knight said; this further impacts the district because of mandates for certain types of food the district will have to start serving.

For example, a one-fruit-or-vegetable-per-lunch mandate will be implemented next school year, Knight said.

"I anticipate having to turn kids around maybe the first day or two [of school] and pick up that fruit or vegetable," she said.

Beyond that, the district will be required to offer five particular subgroups of vegetables, like dark green or dark orange/red.

And because of child obesity and Type II Diabetes issues among children in the U.S., there will be fewer servings of bread. The federal MyPlate initiative will be emphasized, Knight said, encouraging that half a plate or tray be filled with produce, a quarter with a whole grain and a quarter with a protein.

Calorie requirements also are going down, which could result in some smaller portions, Knight said.

"It will take a lot of education, because parents will probably hear from students 'Well gosh, we’ve got a smaller hamburger patty this year,' " Knight said.

But programs like offering different local foods monthly will continue at district schools. Knight said she and the district are grateful to have families participating in school meal programs.

"We don’t want it to be a hardship on our community parents and children, because we know we provide a well-balanced meal," she said.

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