Schools

UPDATE: Lunch Prices Going Up for District 196 Schools

Mandates in the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act will require schools to provide more specific categories of food and work toward price equity for all students' meals, resulting in a need for increased lunch prices.

The District 196 School Board on Monday approved a 10-cent lunch price increase for elementary and high school students, as well as for adults, by a 6-0 vote.

The increase brings lunch prices for 2012-13 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 increase was necessary, district officials said, because of mandates from the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that focus on nutrition and something called price equity, an effort to have all students contributing the same amount of money to their school-provided meals.

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If the board had voted against the measure, the district would have lost about about $3.6 million in federal funding for its meal programs—almost 33 percent of its meal-program funding, district Finance and Operations Director Jeff Solomon said at the meeting.

Read more about the changes to school lunch programs in 's previous article, either below or .

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Board member Rob Duchscher was not present at the May 14 meeting.

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From Tuesday, May 1: 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.

But the price increase will need to occur, district officials say, because of mandates from the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that focus on nutrition and something called 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 for the district's school lunches in 's .]

Ignoring mandates or 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.

This school year, lunch prices increased by 5 cents at all levels, also because of federal mandates; the board's vote on that measure last year was 4-2 in favor.

Before that, prices .

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 … to operate totally as self-op," Knight said.

What she means by "self-op" is that the district's food service doesn't fall under the umbrella of its general fund, which provides money for most of the district's day-to-day functions. The food service division of the district pays for its staff, groceries, repairs and other expenses from its own separate fund, Knight said.

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.

The one-fruit-or-vegetable-per-lunch mandate will happen 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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