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Nutrition services warns of rising food costs and funding changes; CEP funding likely to drop from a one‑time 100% back to 90%
Summary
Nutrition services supervisor Tina Sells told the budget committee that program revenues come from federal reimbursements, state grants and local sales; she flagged $111,000 of expiring COVID supply‑chain assistance and said last year's 100% CEP funding is expected to return to 90%, tightening next year’s fund balance.
Tina Sells, the district’s nutrition services supervisor, presented an overview of nutrition program funding and warned the committee that next year’s revenues will be tighter due to expiring one‑time federal support and an expected reversion of community eligibility reimbursements.
Sells outlined revenue sources—adult meal and student second‑meal sales, vending and catering—and identified federal reimbursements and commodity entitlements (USDA foods) as the program’s largest funding source. She said the district received a $16,000 noncompetitive reimbursement grant this year and that last biennium’s supply chain assistance ($111,000) and a one‑time 100% CEP reimbursement boost contributed to an improved ending fund balance for the current year.
But Sells warned those supports will not persist: "Both those things will not be present in the next year to help our fund balance," she told the committee. Staff explained that the state will reimburse CEP meals at 90% in the coming year (rather than the exceptional 100% funding the district received last year), and that food service is more exposed to price and wage pressures because federal meal reimbursements are national rates that do not reflect regional wage differences.
Program statistics cited by staff included average daily participation (about 1,050 breakfasts and roughly 2,040 lunches in 2025), roughly 329,000 reimbursed lunches in 2025 and a projected 372,000 lunches this year; Sells said her plan to respond includes reopening a la carte options at the middle and high schools to increase nonprogram revenue and pursuing ongoing grant opportunities.
Committee members pressed on CEP mechanics, reapplication timelines (staff said current CEP approval is through 2029 but the district must reapply annually as required) and whether nutrition equipment repair/replacement can draw on other capital funds; staff said most repairs come from the nutrition fund but there may be limited circumstances to use excise tax (CET) or other one‑time funds.
