Board hears Chartwells report and unanimously sets 2025–26 meal prices; summer community bulk boxes distributed at scale

Chartwells director Amber Scholl presented a condensed quarterly business report to the Churchill County School District Board, outlining outreach plans, facility refreshes and recent community meal distributions. Scholl said the vendor and district have a multi‑pronged plan for the coming school year to boost participation, simplify the free/reduced application process, and upgrade cafeteria service at multiple sites.

Highlights and community feeding: Scholl described planned outreach (Raptor 3C community day, back‑to‑school booths, QR codes and a library workshop to help families complete meal applications) and facility work (remodels at the middle school and Northside cafeterias). She reported the community bulk boxes program has rapidly expanded: "On the first day we did 800 breakfasts and lunches; this year we did 1,450, then 1,600, and today we did 1,580 breakfasts and lunches," Scholl said, noting community demand and the benefit to families.

Participation and operations: Scholl said the district doubled lunch participation at the high school and middle school compared with the prior year and outlined operational strategies (deli stations, two cashiers at high school deli bars, pre‑made smoothie merchandisers) to speed service and manage portions when paid meals resume. She emphasized outreach to ensure as many eligible families as possible submit free/reduced applications because federal reimbursement depends on that data.

Price‑setting and board action: Superintendent Parsons explained that the district had to include a meal price on the June 30 application and presented vendor cost and reimbursement data; the vendor contract cost per lunch was shown as about $4.239. Staff modeled several price scenarios and estimated subsidy impacts: each $0.25 change in lunch price was estimated to cost roughly $14,000 annually; one board scenario yielded an estimated annual district cost near $44,000 before factoring reimbursements and roughly $20,000 after applying an estimated $0.42 average reimbursement per paid lunch.

After discussion about comparable rates in neighboring districts and operational uncertainties, Trustee Fadd moved — and Trustee Guerrero seconded — to set breakfast at $2.00, elementary lunch at $3.25, middle school lunch at $3.75 and high school lunch at $4.00 for the 2025–26 school year. The board voted unanimously to adopt that price schedule.

Board concerns and next steps: trustees raised practical questions about monitoring portions at deli bars, the effect of paid lunches on participation and options to revise prices midyear. Staff said the board can revise prices later if district data show a need and that the district will continue tracking participation and reimbursement rates to refine subsidy projections.

What this means: the district will begin the school year participating in the National School Lunch Program with the approved price schedule, continue outreach to maximize eligible applications for federal reimbursement, and monitor program costs and participation for midyear adjustments if necessary.