Board of Ed's Fiscal Committee Votes for 10 Cent Increase in School Lunch Prices [Clarification]

[Editor's Note: This article has been edited to clarify that the Fiscal Committee made the vote and not the entire Board of Ed.]

The Board of Education's Fiscal Committee voted Tuesday night to increase the price of school meals by 10 cents at all levels. The change, which would bring the price of elementary school lunches to $2.85 each, middle school lunches to $3.10 each and high school lunches to $3.20 each, will be voted on by the entire board on July 26.

 “It’s a very dynamic program, the kids are participating more and more," Michael Edgar, district manager at Chartwells school dining services, told the board. "Over [the] last year we had an over two percent increase in students dining in the school. It’s the way the program needs to go to be financially healthy — last year the program deficit was about $290,000. This year, I think we’re going be close to $100,000… our goal for 2012 is to get it to financially break even.”

To demonstrate the value of a school lunch program, Chartwells presented the board with a chart listing the estimated price for an average student’s brown bag lunch, including a turkey sandwich, fruit, a fiber bar and cookie. Using Peapod pricing, Chartwells put the total for the food at $4.44 for each brown bagged lunch brought from home.

School board member Richard Lyons II questioned the model that Chartwells used as a comparison — showing the retail pricing of food when food service providers have access to far-reduced prices — and questioned Chartwells about their actual costs for school lunches. Although he did not have numbers in front of him, Edgar estimated about a dollar per meal averaged throughout the schools.

“I question trying to pose the pricing model of X that Mom and Dad are paying versus what Chartwells real cost is as a sales pitch to the board, or to me anyway.” Lyons said. “In the worst economy since World War II, I just don’t know what the 10 cents is going to do.”

Last year, the board increased the cost of lunches 10 cents in September and 15 cents in January, yet participation numbers increased.

“In my mindset as a parent I thought it was a treat to be able to have your child buy lunch, and you save money, I think that message should get out there,”  board member Geoff Alswanger said. “The more lunches that are purchased, the less deficit we’re going to run.”

In addition to the cost savings, Edgar and his team cited several other benefits of participating in the school lunch program, including exposure to greater variety of foods, free seconds on fruits and vegetables and eliminating safety concerns of keeping lunches unrefrigerated during the morning hours. Chartwells has also worked to increase the fresh foods available to students.

“The USDA has guidelines coming on line to improve the healthiness of the commodity items …" Edgar said. "They’re looking into fresh produce and Connecticut is leading the charge... a fresh produce program through our online suppliers provided fresh produce, which was just as lovely as your down-the-road farmers’ market.The kids received quality produce and we just worked it into the program."

Edgar invited board members to come into the schools and experience what the children do every day — an opportunity several members had already taken advantage of over the past year. Those who participated agreed that there has been a marked improvement since Chartwells began working in the district.