School board approves meal-price minimum, considers collection-policy change and adds summer meal site

The Greenfield-Central School Board approved a minimum 10-cent increase in school meal prices and heard staff proposals on collection frequency and summer feeding sites at its May meeting.

District materials recommended a 10-cent increase as the federal Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) tool had not yet been finalized. The staff-recommended prices published for the next school year were $2.00 for breakfast for all tiers and a proposed lunch price of $3.25 for most student tiers and $3.35 for the tier listed as tier 3; the presenter said final PLE figures would be applied if they arrive. "We've used last year's PLE tool which is included here and it predicts that we have to raise prices by at least the federal minimum of 10¢," the district report said.

On collections policy, staff described moving from monthly to quarterly collections and narrowing the policy language to "district-wide K–12" (the change would no longer reference pre-K and the district's daycare facility). The proposal was presented as a first reading and will return to the board next month because it is a policy change.

The board also approved the district's summer nutrition plans. The district added a grab-and-go site at Greenfield Central Junior High that will distribute lunch and a breakfast for the next morning. District staff said the summer feeding program is fully funded and that a separate supplemental program called Sunbucks (which provides benefits for some families on TANF) is not being cut. The district will continue the Boys & Girls Club site and the high school site and will provide weekday meals at the Kathy Dowling Aquatic Centre; two closed sites for partner camps will also receive meals.

Why it matters: meal-price and collection policy changes affect families and nutrition program revenues; summer feeding sites serve children on vacation and partner organizations. The collection-policy revision also reflects donations and community support the district said has reduced the need for aggressive outside collections.

The actions taken at the meeting: the board voted to approve the meal-price schedule as presented and accepted grants and donations totaling $729 (a set of James Whitcomb Riley writings valued at $229 and a $500 donation to Weston Elementary from Regreening Greenfield and Purdue Extension). The collection-policy revision was a first reading only and the summer nutrition plan was provided for information and approved where required.