The Wallingford Board of Education debated whether to raise student meal prices at its July 28 meeting after district food-service staff recommended incremental increases to avoid steeper hikes later.

What staff proposed: Food service staff presented a recommendation to raise paid meal prices in modest increments to approach a U.S. Department of Agriculture paid-lunch-equity benchmark. Staff said the district's current weighted average paid-lunch price is about $3.33 and USDA guidance sets a target weighted average of about $4.01 for the coming year. Food service staff proposed 25'cent increases for breakfast and lunch; the board briefly considered smaller increases.

Numbers offered: Director-level staff reported that a 15'cent increase across meals would raise the district's weighted average to approximately $3.48 and a 20'cent increase to about $3.53; a 25'cent increase was estimated to raise the weighted average to $3.58 and produce an estimated additional annual revenue of about $92,756. Staff also noted the district recently had a surplus (staff estimated approximately $50,000 6,000) and that federal pandemic-era reimbursements that temporarily boosted revenue are no longer available.

Arguments and outcome: Some board members urged caution because families are facing multiple financial pressures and questioned a price increase this year; others argued an incremental increase now would blunt a larger increase if costs or reimbursements decline. Board member Vato proposed a compromise 10'cent increase; members discussed 15'cent, 20'cent and 25'cent options. The board took a motion to raise breakfast and lunch prices by 15'cents but the motion failed on a roll-call vote.

What this means: The district will keep current meal prices for now. Staff said they will continue monitoring commodity costs, labor contract outcomes and federal/state reimbursement guidance and return with recommendations as conditions change.

Relevant quote: "We wanted to increase our prices so that, when we do have bad years...the bigger shock it would be in the future," said Bondi, identifying reasons to consider incremental increases.

Next steps: Food-service staff will continue to monitor costs and report to the board; any future price changes would require board action and public notice.