Fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will continue to hit pocketbooks for parents in USD 257, as school leaders approved a nickel increase in lunch prices. No increase was made for breakfast.
“I’m afraid to raise it 10 cents,” said Judy Baker, food service director. “Families are struggling right now, and even a nickel is going to be a lot to ask. We’re just in between a rock and hard place.”
The additional charge will offset about half the cost of an increase by the district’s food service provider, OPAA. Baker, who serves as the liaison between the district and OPAA, said the company increases its meal prices each year, but the district tries to avoid passing those onto families by relying on reimbursement programs from the state or from free and reduced meal programs. The lunch program more than pays for itself, but breakfast is usually short about 15 cents per meal.
This year, OPAA’s costs have increased in part because of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw food prices increase across the nation. OPAA’s lunch cost will increase by 11 cents to $3.4914 per meal, and breakfast by 7 cents to $2.3173.
The state recommended USD 257 increase its lunch price by the maximum of 10 cents, although the district qualifies for an exemption that would allow them to refuse any type of increase.
The board agreed with Baker’s recommendation and voted to increase lunch prices by 5 cents. That will increase the cost of lunches at the high school to $3.10, middle school to $2.95 and elementary to $2.90. Breakfast prices will remain the same.
“If we don’t raise them at all, there’s going to be a year that will catch up with us and we’ll be behind,” Baker said. “If we just raise it a little bit at a time, we won’t have a big chunk come due a few years down the road.”
The district’s costs likely will decrease once a new elementary school is constructed, as OPAA will no longer have to transport meals to three elementary schools, Superintendent Stacey Fager added.
Bye, Lexia
Elementary school students won’t be using Lexia next year.
The literacy program was introduced to the district in recent years to boost individualized reading skills, with incentives like t-shirts and special recognition. But the introductory period ended with sticker shock, as the full cost of the program came in at around $35,000, up from the $13,000 the district paid last year. The first year of the program was free.
Instead, the district will expand its IXL Learning program, another type of personalized instruction that elementary schools had used for math. By dropping Lexia and expanding IXL, the district should save about $10,000, instructional coaches Jenna Higginbotham and Briana Curry told board members.
The district also received a second-year grant to help fund its preschool program. This past year, the district received $138,000 to expand a program to include private preschools to provide a collaborative early education curriculum for every child in the district. The district will receive $180,000 for the coming school year, which continues the program and includes additional funding for meals.
IN OTHER news, the school board:
Approved asking parents to sign a summer activities waiver that would release the district from liability in the event of spreading COVID-19. The district is offering summer sports activities, but there is still a risk of spreading the virus, Fager said. The waiver would be similar to having a sports physical on file.
