Comal ISD board approves 10‑cent increase to school meal prices for 2025‑26

The Comal ISD Board of Trustees voted 7–0 May 15 to increase student meal prices by 10 cents for the 2025–26 school year, a phased step district staff said is intended to move the food‑service program toward compliance with a USDA reimbursement formula.

“The USDA provides a formula for school districts to go by each year prior to setting breakfast and lunch prices,” Mr. Graham said during the presentation. He told the board the district’s current weighted price would require a 61‑cent increase to meet that formula but recommended spreading the change over multiple years.

Administrators recommended the following 2025–26 prices: student breakfast for grades PK–12 at $2.05; student lunch for grades PK–5 at $3.30; student lunch for grades 6–12 at $3.50; and a 20‑cent increase for adult meals. The board adopted the recommendation on a unanimous vote.

Trustee Tim Hennessy pressed for timing and compliance details. Mr. Graham said the district typically cannot increase paid meal prices faster than the program’s practical limits and that the district was recommending the 10‑cent step for 2025–26 with further review next year. “The district honestly can only go up 10¢ per year,” Graham said in response.

Trustees made the motion in open session; the motion passed 7–0. No additional funding sources, waivers or offsets were specified during the discussion.

Food‑service officials said the phased approach aims to avoid operating the meal program in a deficit while moving toward the reimbursement level required by federal guidance.