Prior Lake'Savage board approves $0.50 high school lunch increase amid federal, state funding uncertainty

The Prior Lake'Savage Area Schools board voted unanimously to raise the price of a high school lunch from $3.25 to $3.75 for the 2025'26 school year, citing rising food, labor and operational costs and federal and state funding uncertainty.

"Everything is going up," Director Malone, director of child nutrition, told the board as she requested the increase. The motion to accept the 50'cent increase was made by Director Atkinson and seconded by Director Mason; the motion carried 7'0'0to'''0.

Malone said the increase applies only to high school lunch; breakfast at the high school will remain free, adult meal prices will not change, and the district will not raise other student meal prices at this time. She said high school lunch prices had not changed since the 2017'18 school year and that supply and wage costs have risen substantially since then.

Administrators also briefed the board on federal and state actions affecting school nutrition funding. Malone said the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced about $1 billion in cuts to nutrition programs earlier in the year, of which roughly $660 million was targeted to farm-to-school grants; she said federal supply-chain assistance funds the district had used previously were eliminated and the Keep Kids Fed Act'''s temporary extra reimbursements (about $0.40 per lunch and $0.15 per breakfast) ended in 2022'23.

State-level proposals discussed during the presentation included: - Senate File 2965 (as cited in the meeting transcript): provisions related to free milk without purchase of a meal and other changes noted in the presentation. - House File 2387 (as cited): proposed expansion of allowable uses of the district's O-2 school nutrition fund to cover items normally paid from the general fund (details in the bill as presented to the board). - House File 2201 (as cited in the transcript): a proposal described during the meeting that would create a fourth eligibility category ("enhanced eligibility") and preserve free breakfast while changing lunch eligibility; the transcript cited the income threshold at roughly 500% of federal poverty level (~$156,000 for a family of four) as an example discussed in the presentation.

Malone described possible federal program changes that would affect how many districts receive federal funding: the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) currently allows districts with at least 40% identified students to offer universal free meals; the district was told a federal proposal could move that threshold to 60%, shifting some cost obligations to states. Malone also described proposals to end broad-based categorical eligibility (which allows families already enrolled in SNAP, Medicaid or WIC to qualify automatically for free school meals) and a draft requirement for families to provide recent paystubs with applications.

Board members asked questions about comparative pricing and financial position. Malone said Prior Lake High School's $3.75 price would remain modest compared with many districts and that the nutrition program had not required drawing from fund balance during her 11-year tenure; she cautioned that continued cost trends could require more frequent smaller increases in future years.

A separate annual wellness update from Malone noted federal requirements for local wellness policies and a recent Minnesota Department of Education administrative review that asked the district to name a wellness coordinator and increase community input opportunities; the wellness update was informational and required no board action.

Action recorded: - Motion: Adopt $0.50 price increase for Prior Lake High School lunch, effective 2025'26 school year. - Mover: Director Atkinson. - Second: Director Mason. - Vote: 7 in favor, 0 opposed (motion carried).