News
School lunch costs increase
By Derek Jordan, Green Valley News
Faced with a stagnate budget that doesn’t compensate for the increasing costs of fuel and general inflation, schools in the area are raising lunch prices to compensate.
The school boards for both the Sahuarita and Continental School Districts have voted to increase the costs of their meals in the fall. The Continental Governing Board voted to raise prices for its meals during its June 9 board meeting, said Bonnie Klahr, school board president.
Lunches for fourth grade and lower are going from $1.50 to $1.75, and grades fifth through eighth from $1.75 to $2, said Klahr. Prices for breakfast are also increasing to 75 cents.
The increase comes as a result of a lack of increased funding from the state to compensate with the rising costs of food, fuel and inflation, said Continental Superintendent Gaye Leo.
“Prices are going up, and funding is not,” Leo said.
At Sahuarita School District, prices are raising similarly, with grades sixth and up increasing lunch prices to $2 from $1.75, and all lower grades increasing to $1.75.
Neither districts are increasing the costs of their free and reduced costs meal programs.
“The situation is, in our district, we haven’t raised meal costs for four years,” said Sahuarita Superintendent Jay St. John. “We can’t avoid inflation any easier than anyone else can. It’s that simple.”
The choice to not raise the prices steadily over time may have to be reconsidered, St. John said.
“I would hope that’s it’s more acceptable to [parents] if we do it in some sort of regular fashion rather than waiting four or five years and then dumping a big increase on them,” he said.
All public schools in Arizona rely on funding from the state to pay for basic things like food and utilities. When the state doesn’t provide more funding to compensate for inflation and the rising costs of fuel and food, schools are left to their own measures.
“We have to at least break even on the costs of the breakfast and the lunches, and so when our costs increase, we have to pass it on,” said Klahr. As far as the state budget is concerned, Klahr said the schools are still in the dark as to whether more funding in on its way. “Every day we get a report from the state saying that they’re in negotiations, but they haven’t passed anything yet,” she said.
Fuel costs are playing a large part in draining funds from rural districts like Continental, said Leo.
“We have almost 122 square miles of land that is encompassed in our small school district. We drive probably 55,000 miles (every year),” she said. Students that attend school for only half a day also require transportation from the district’s seven buses, which adds to the costs, Leo said.
“So there are things like that which enter into the picture, but the Arizona Department of Education give us compensation that is basically very limited,” she said. The state reimburses Continental about 40 cents per mile, said Leo. It’s a figure, she said, that is not keeping up with the times. “The last few years it’s gone up two cents,” she said.
Schools are hit particularly hard during times of economic hardships, Leo said.
“Transportation, food services, everything the school district does is always subject to the pressures of the economic circumstance, and it’s harder for us, because we just don’t have anywhere to pull the money from,” she said. “There’s no new money.”
St. John said that despite the funding shortfalls, the schools are doing everything they can to keep the prices from directly affecting students.
“We’re out there just like everybody else, wondering how we’re going to deal with this,” he said, “but we’ll try to do the best we can and keep the impact on kids to a minimum, but that’s pretty difficult to do.” St. John said that the lunch increase is the only instance where the schools’ economic troubles are being directly passed on to students. Athletic fees are not being contemplated for increases, he said.
The school boards for both the Sahuarita and Continental School Districts have voted to increase the costs of their meals in the fall. The Continental Governing Board voted to raise prices for its meals during its June 9 board meeting, said Bonnie Klahr, school board president.
Lunches for fourth grade and lower are going from $1.50 to $1.75, and grades fifth through eighth from $1.75 to $2, said Klahr. Prices for breakfast are also increasing to 75 cents.
The increase comes as a result of a lack of increased funding from the state to compensate with the rising costs of food, fuel and inflation, said Continental Superintendent Gaye Leo.
“Prices are going up, and funding is not,” Leo said.
At Sahuarita School District, prices are raising similarly, with grades sixth and up increasing lunch prices to $2 from $1.75, and all lower grades increasing to $1.75.
Neither districts are increasing the costs of their free and reduced costs meal programs.
“The situation is, in our district, we haven’t raised meal costs for four years,” said Sahuarita Superintendent Jay St. John. “We can’t avoid inflation any easier than anyone else can. It’s that simple.”
The choice to not raise the prices steadily over time may have to be reconsidered, St. John said.
“I would hope that’s it’s more acceptable to [parents] if we do it in some sort of regular fashion rather than waiting four or five years and then dumping a big increase on them,” he said.
All public schools in Arizona rely on funding from the state to pay for basic things like food and utilities. When the state doesn’t provide more funding to compensate for inflation and the rising costs of fuel and food, schools are left to their own measures.
“We have to at least break even on the costs of the breakfast and the lunches, and so when our costs increase, we have to pass it on,” said Klahr. As far as the state budget is concerned, Klahr said the schools are still in the dark as to whether more funding in on its way. “Every day we get a report from the state saying that they’re in negotiations, but they haven’t passed anything yet,” she said.
Fuel costs are playing a large part in draining funds from rural districts like Continental, said Leo.
“We have almost 122 square miles of land that is encompassed in our small school district. We drive probably 55,000 miles (every year),” she said. Students that attend school for only half a day also require transportation from the district’s seven buses, which adds to the costs, Leo said.
“So there are things like that which enter into the picture, but the Arizona Department of Education give us compensation that is basically very limited,” she said. The state reimburses Continental about 40 cents per mile, said Leo. It’s a figure, she said, that is not keeping up with the times. “The last few years it’s gone up two cents,” she said.
Schools are hit particularly hard during times of economic hardships, Leo said.
“Transportation, food services, everything the school district does is always subject to the pressures of the economic circumstance, and it’s harder for us, because we just don’t have anywhere to pull the money from,” she said. “There’s no new money.”
St. John said that despite the funding shortfalls, the schools are doing everything they can to keep the prices from directly affecting students.
“We’re out there just like everybody else, wondering how we’re going to deal with this,” he said, “but we’ll try to do the best we can and keep the impact on kids to a minimum, but that’s pretty difficult to do.” St. John said that the lunch increase is the only instance where the schools’ economic troubles are being directly passed on to students. Athletic fees are not being contemplated for increases, he said.
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