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Grand Forks school board approves 20-cent increase to several school meal prices
Summary
The Grand Forks Public Schools Board voted unanimously to raise elementary and secondary breakfast and lunch prices and adult breakfast by 20¢ each to preserve the health of the district's child nutrition fund (Fund 50); officials said the district will remain among the lowest-priced in the state.
The Grand Forks Public Schools Board on a 9-0 vote approved a recommendation to raise elementary breakfast and lunch, secondary breakfast and lunch, and adult breakfast prices by 20 cents each, saying the modest increase will help maintain the district's child nutrition fund.
"First and foremost, I would just articulate this is Fund 50. It's completely separate from the general operations of our school district," said Mister Baumbach while presenting the memo and tables that show the recommended change and its effects. He said the fund participates in the USDA national school lunch program and that meal-price adjustments are constrained by that federal program.
Director Wendy Manky of the child nutrition program explained how the district manages the fund and serves students. "We still give a child a meal even if they're negative balance or don't have anything," she said, describing how reimbursable-meal rules and a la carte sales interact with commodity foods and vendor contracts.
Board members asked how the free-and-reduced program works and how confidentiality is preserved. Director Manky said the district is expanding online applications and that the system keeps student status anonymous at the point of sale: "You put in their lunch number, and it automatically gets taken off. So nobody knows that either."
Administrators used a table in the packet to estimate the household impact; the presentation showed an annualized per-student difference of $17.40 from the change. Presenters emphasized the increase would still leave the district among the lowest in the state for meal prices.
Several trustees praised the child nutrition staff. "I just want to commend Director Manky for running her child nutrition program like a business," Doctor Brenner said while noting staff shortages and the department's use of internally generated funds and private donations to subsidize negative balances.
The motion to adopt the price adjustment was seconded by Mister Cleven and carried 9-0 in roll call. The board also discussed outreach to encourage eligible families to apply for free and reduced meals and noted fundraising and foundation support that supplement the program.
The board's action is effective immediately for the identified meal categories; no additional procedure was announced at the meeting.
