Board approves 2025–26 school meal prices, adds sites to free/reduced status and renews prime vendor contract

The board approved the 2025–26 school meal prices, authorized specified schools for participation in free-and-reduced mechanisms, and renewed the district’s prime vendor contract through a cooperative with Spokane schools.

Justin (district staff) summarized the annual update to meal prices and noted one operational change: the district is adding an additional location to its free-and-reduced list and cited Kamiak and Jefferson in the discussion. ‘‘There were no questions at the time, but I'm happy to answer those. One piece of this is pretty consistent every year, but the difference this year is that we're adding Franklin will also be free and reduced Kamiak and Jefferson,’’ Justin said.

On the prime-vendor contract renewal, staff described the cooperative purchasing arrangement with Spokane schools. Nutrition services director Jessica Campbell (quoted by staff) said cost-savings are difficult to quantify precisely over many years, but that cooperative buying yields operational benefits including fewer delivery trucks and improved produce quality. ‘‘Sometimes the prices are very, very close, but because we get to purchase in bulk from these groups, usually the produce is better,’’ staff reported.

The board moved and seconded approval of the 2025–26 meal prices and the prime-vendor contract renewal; both motions passed by voice vote. No roll-call tallies were recorded in the public portion of the meeting.

Why it matters: Meal pricing and vendor relationships affect student nutrition programs, budget planning, and food-service operations. Adding sites to free-and-reduced coverage affects access for students served at those locations.

Follow-up: Staff did not provide a line-item estimate of savings from the cooperative contract during the meeting but said they would continue to monitor costs and quality.