Board OKs 10-cent increase to student meal prices and signs contract for co-op food oversight

The East Kingston School Board voted to raise meal prices by 10 cents for both breakfast and lunch at its June 8 meeting after food-service directors used the USDA paid-lunch-equity tool and recommended the small increase.

Current prices discussed in the packet were $2.25 for breakfast and $3.40 for lunch; the board approved a motion to increase both by $0.10. The vote was taken by voice (motion, second, “all in favor”); the transcript does not record a roll-call tally.

Finance staff and food-service representatives reported that the district is projecting a food-service deficit of about $39,800 for this fiscal year. Using last year’s totals, staff said East Kingston served roughly 1,115 breakfasts and 7,798 lunches (about 9,000 meals) in the prior year, with an average cost referred to at roughly $3 per meal. The board discussed family impact and directed staff to provide more detailed modeling at a later date, including how many meals are served to students eligible for free or reduced-price meals and what price would be needed to run the program at break-even.

Separately, staff said the SAU/co-op will take responsibility for food-service oversight next year, centralizing ordering, paperwork and oversight while keeping a cook on site. That change was estimated to save East Kingston about $4,000 (one presenter said $5,960) annually by reducing local administrative expense.

Next steps: staff will provide a more detailed food-service budget presentation to quantify the deficit drivers, free/reduced participation rates and the break-even price point.