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MMSD reviews school meal pricing and CEP expansion options; adding two schools would cost about $52,100
Summary
Food & Nutrition presented required paid meal price recalculations and modeled Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) scenarios. Continuing current CEP schools and adding Muir and Whitehorse would add an estimated $52,100 to the district subsidy; expanding CEP to some large high schools would add substantially more and could raise district subsidy toward $6M under a full expansion scenario.
The district’s Food & Nutrition director briefed the board on required paid meal price recalculation and on options for continuing or expanding the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which provides universal free meals at qualifying schools.
Key numbers and mechanics: the department is required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to recalculate paid lunch prices using the paid lunch equity tool. Under current projections the preliminary 2026‑27 nutrition subsidy (Fund 10 transfer) is estimated at about $3.75 million; that number depends on final USDA reimbursement rates and claim rates that DPI certifies later this summer.
CEP scenarios: using updated DPI identified‑student percentages, the Food & Nutrition team modeled options. Keeping the district’s current CEP group (two cohorts shown in the presentation) is the status quo baked into the 2026‑27 budget (about $3.75M subsidy). Adding the next two ranked schools, Muir and Whitehorse, was estimated to cost roughly $52,100; adding East and La Follette (large high schools with lower meal participation) would add about $271,000. A district‑wide expansion of CEP would add roughly $1.8M more, bringing total subsidy needs closer to $6M under that scenario.
Board questions focused on how to raise participation prior to committing subsidy dollars (principals’ outreach, foodservice points of sale, line management), the operational constraints of high‑school lunch periods, and whether adding select schools could be achieved without increasing net subsidy (for example, by replacing lower‑reimbursement CEP schools on a new application). Staff said participation campaigns (principal engagement, cafeteria logistics) have moved participation in the past and that the district will include Muir and Whitehorse in the contract application timeline if the board directs staff to do so; CEP contract documents must be filed at the end of the month.
