Lawrence Public Schools staff propose 10¢ paid-meal increase as food service fund nears deficit

Lawrence Public Schools nutrition officials told the board Monday that a modest 10-cent increase to paid student meal prices is being proposed for 2025–26 to reduce an operating shortfall in the district’s food service fund.

The rise would apply only to paid meal prices (not free or reduced-price meals) and is intended to raise the district’s weighted average paid lunch price from about $3.08 to $3.18, director of nutrition and wellness Julie Henry said. Henry said the weighted average is still below the federal target her team was shown but that the smaller, incremental approach is intended to be less disruptive for families.

Why it matters: Henry said the district is losing about $0.82 on every paid lunch under current prices after accounting for federal and state reimbursements and that sustained losses would eventually require a transfer from the district general fund. "When paid meals are not high enough to cover paid meals plus the reimbursement... then we are losing money on those meals," Henry said. She described the increase as part of the district’s annual…