Published: June 25, 2008 11:50 pm      

Prices of school lunches increase

Most districts will charge extra quarter

ASHLAND — The rising cost of food is forcing schools to raise lunch prices.

Several area districts have hiked the price of school lunches, most of them by about a quarter.

Most recently, Boyd County raised its prices a quarter, the first hike in two years. Food and labor costs were the culprits, said finance director Don Fleu.

Greenup County’s school board will look at lunch prices in July and is likely to raise them, business manager and food service director Scott Burchett said.

Other districts that have raised prices for next year include Ashland and Raceland. All cite rising costs for food as the cause.

“Food service is squeezed just like everyone else,” Fleu said. Milk and vegetables particularly are more expensive.

Some students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches under income guidelines and the changes don’t affect them.

However, the federal subsidy for meals hasn’t changed. Schools are reimbursed $2.49 for each free lunch and $2.09 for each reduced-price lunch, Burchett said.

But the cost to prepare the meals can be up to $3.00, he said. And since full-price lunches in Greenup this year are $1.25 for elementary and $1.50 for middle and high school, the district loses money on those meals.

Russell didn’t raise its prices this year but is “more than likely” to do so next year, said finance officer and food service director Dennis Chambers. “We’ve tried to last as long as we could but with rising food costs, we have to do something.”

State nutrition standards updated two years ago also have driven up costs, Chambers said. The meals are healthier now, but they cost more.

To stretch their food dollars, most area schools take part in cooperative bidding through the Kentucky Educational Development Corp.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.