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Fayette County staff say KDE requires paid-meal price rises after $1.5M Fund 51 deficit
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Summary
District officials told the board that Kentucky Department of Education guidance and a negative balance in the child nutrition fund (Fund 51) require modest increases in paid meal prices; staff proposed a $0.50 breakfast and $0.75 lunch increase at non-CEP sites and said no child will be denied a meal.
Fayette County Public Schools staff notified the Board of Education on April 27 that the district has been directed by the Kentucky Department of Education to raise paid meal prices for the 2026–27 school year because the child nutrition fund (Fund 51) closed the prior year with a deficit.
Interim finance staff and Director of Child Nutrition Michelle Coker told the board that Fund 51 has sustained operational losses amid higher food, labor and supply costs and that, in recent months, the district has been subsidizing paid lunches with federal funds. Interim finance remarks at the meeting cited an approximately $1,500,000 deficit in Fund 51.
"We are actually losing money on those," Michelle Coker said of paid meals, describing federal reimbursements as insufficient to cover current per-meal costs. Coker and staff outlined a proposed increase of $0.50 for paid breakfast and $0.75 for paid lunch at non-Community Eligibility Provision (non-CEP) sites. District staff emphasized that over 78% of students will continue to receive free meals and that students who qualify for free meals will not be affected by the proposed price changes.
District officials explained that paid-lunch-equity (PLE) calculations and federal reimbursement rates factor into the required adjustment. Coker said the district's reimbursement and paid-student contributions currently leave a per-meal shortfall (she cited per-meal shortfalls for breakfast and elementary lunch when compared to total costs). Board members and staff discussed secondary causes including reduced direct certification numbers tied to changes in SNAP/TANF enrollment and the loss of some CEP sites when eligibility thresholds shifted.
Board members asked about tracking whether students who use district outreach (such as the Classroom on Wheels) later enroll in district preschool or kindergarten; they also sought clarification on how families can apply for meal assistance. Staff said households can file for meal assistance at any point in the year and that the district will continue its policy of providing a meal to any student who arrives without payment.
The proposal is scheduled for formal consideration on the board's upcoming action agenda; staff said they have coordinated communications with the district PTA and emphasized efforts to avoid any student missing a meal.
