Board approves FY26 food service budget; staff warn fund balance will be drawn down to expand summer and after-school meal programs

The Queen Anne's County Board of Education on June 18 approved the FY25–26 food service budget and heard staff presentations on a first-year, locally run food service operation and an expanded summer feeding program.

Julie Hickey, coordinator of food services, described program changes in the first year of local operations: nearly 725,000 meals served this school year (breakfast and lunch), four schools participating in Maryland Meals for Achievement (breakfast in the classroom) with roughly 60% breakfast participation at those schools, partnerships with three local vendors, reduced packaging, and new mobile summer meal sites that will begin June 23 and run through Aug. 14. Hickey said the district received two grants this year — about $34,000 from No Kid Hungry to add a refrigeration unit to a service van and $2,000 from the Dairy Council to buy breakfast carts for Centerville Middle School.

Rob Watkins, supervisor of finance, outlined the food service fund finances. He said the fund 5 balance stood at $1,945,000 as of June 30 and that FY25 projected revenues were about $3,150,000 against projected expenditures of about $3,480,000, leaving a projected FY25 deficit of about $334,000 that the district will offset from the fund balance. Watkins said FY26 conservative projections anticipate revenues increasing modestly but expenditures rising (including salary steps and food-cost inflation), producing a projected FY26 deficit of about $694,000; staff plan to use fund balance to offset that projected shortfall if necessary.

Board members asked whether meal prices will increase; staff said meal prices will remain the same for next school year. A board member calculated that a hypothetical 10¢ price increase across paid meals would generate roughly $70,000 in revenue — a figure staff confirmed as an approximate order of magnitude.

Hickey described menu offerings (elementary: four entrees daily including two hot entrees; middle schools: seven entrees; high schools: seven entrees with rotating bars) and said the program follows the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and USDA National School Breakfast and Lunch Program standards. The board discussed the need for continued cost control, potential revenue-generating options such as vending contract changes, and timing for mid-year budget checks; Watkins and Hickey said they will return with updates after year-end close and the district’s financial statement audit.

A motion to approve the FY25–26 food service budget carried by voice vote. The transcript records the vote as "Aye"; no roll-call tally was recorded.