By Ashley Du, Staff Reporter
Starting this school year, TESD implemented a price change for all district school lunches by increasing prices for meals by 75 cents and a la carte items by 6%. The regular school board committee approved these changes during the June 10 regular school board meeting.
“For the last three years, we’ve had unprecedented increases in food (costs) throughout the country,” TESD Food Services Supervisor Dave Preston said. “This year, it was 7.7% for food. The year before, it was 14.4. Pre-COVID, our increases were always between 2% and 3.5% every year.”
Last school year, student lunch meals ranged from $4.00 to $5.25 while staff lunch meals were $5.50. This year, the costs increased to $4.75 to $6.50 for students and $6.25 for staff. Breakfast remains free for all students, and those with free or reduced-price meal plans continue to receive free lunches. After considering the country-wide increase to food supply costs, Preston prepared and presented a budget containing the price increase to the finance committee on May 13.
TESD relied on Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) funds to maintain prices over the last few years. Distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service agency, the fund helped schools, such as Conestoga, participating in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program address ongoing supply chain challenges by providing relief funds.
“Last year, we received about $163,000 from the federal government to offset our increased cost. The year before, it was like $173,000, and that all ended this past June,” Preston said. “Without the assistance, we would have lost over $200,000.”
Preston said that the TESD food services department receives no tax dollars. The program operates from a separate fund than the school district and often seeks a small surplus of money, mainly from lunch and breakfast revenue, for new equipment replacements.
“We only raise prices when we absolutely have to. We want everybody to eat,” Preston said. “But it’s a different time right now. We’ve never had a 75-cent increase (as long as I’ve been) in the business.”
Some students have already experienced the effects of the increases early into the school year, especially for those who often buy lunch, such as senior Sabrina Look. She feels that the 75-cent increase has caused her account balance to noticeably decrease.
“I put a bunch of money in my school account for the beginning of the year, but it’s barely the beginning of October, and I’m already in the negatives in my account because of the 75 cents,” Look said. “I’m wondering if I need to change what I get and possibly get something that might not be as good for me just to save money.”
Ashley Du can be reached at [email protected].
