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Cabarrus school nutrition staff recommend holding student meal prices; four vendor contracts recommended for renewal
Summary
School nutrition staff told the board they will not raise student meal prices for 2025-26 and asked the board to renew four annual vendor contracts (groceries, produce, milk, cleaning chemicals). Staff cited federal reimbursements, donated-food use and careful purchasing as reasons no increase is needed now.
Stephanie Almon, a district school nutrition staff member, reported to the Cabarrus County Board of Education on June 2 that the district does not plan to raise student meal prices for the 2025-26 school year.
Almon said the district last raised prices in 2022-23 and that a combination of USDA donated-food allocations, federal COVID-era reimbursements and careful purchasing allowed the program to hold prices this coming year. "We have not done a price increase since 22-23," she said, adding that the program had taken advantage of grants and one-time funds and was monitoring state and federal funding as those legislative items are finalized.
Contracts and renewals: Almon presented four school-nutrition vendor contracts for annual renewal: - Groceries and supplies (Gordon Food Service and produce vendors) using cost-plus fixed-fee arrangements; - Milk (unit-cost contract with local distributor Paul Campbell); - Cleaning chemicals and service (Alco, Mooresville); She explained renewals are routine when vendor pricing and service remain satisfactory and said the contracts are accounted for in the nutrition program budget.
Why it matters: meal pricing affects families and school budgets; staff said they will continue to monitor food, labor and supply-chain costs and will return to the board if circumstances change. Almon warned that some state-level funds remain uncertain until legislation is finalized.
Board response and next steps: Board members asked about equipment condition and growth-related efficiencies. Almon said the district has replaced a substantial portion of equipment in recent years but some recently purchased units are now failing and the department is developing an equipment-replacement plan. The board agreed to add price approval and contract renewals to the consent agenda for next week.
Ending: Nutrition staff will continue to monitor funding, food and labor costs and will notify the board if price or contract adjustments become necessary.
