Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Nutrition topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Anderson School District One to keep Community Eligibility at select feeders, approves small meal-price increases
Summary
The board voted to continue the Community Eligibility Program at selected Palmetto feeder schools plus Spearman and Ren, citing cost-to-expand estimates of $800,000–$900,000; it also approved modest meal-price increases projected to raise about $55,000.
The Anderson School District One board voted June 24 to continue its current Community Eligibility Program (CEP) structure at select feeder schools and to approve modest meal-price increases for non-CEP schools for the 2025–26 school year.
Dr. Young summarized options for the district’s student-nutrition program and said while many district schools technically meet the CEP eligibility threshold, expanding CEP to every qualifying school would require the district to cover an estimated $800,000–$900,000 and place a substantial burden on the general fund. "If we were to include all of our schools in the CDP program, it would cost us somewhere between uh $800 and $900,000 um to to be able to do that," Dr. Young said.
Nutrition staff reported summer feeding averages and attendance: the Palmetto Elementary summer-feeding site served about 40 students per day and the Spearman site served about 100 per day. Mr. Dawkins and his team were singled out for the program’s work during the summer feeding season.
On a motion, second and voice vote, the board approved a resolution to continue CEP for the same schools that participated in 2024–25. Administration said students who qualify for free meals will continue to receive them and the district will not extend CEP districtwide because of the added cost.
Separately, nutrition leadership proposed and the board approved small increases for meal prices at non-CEP schools: breakfast would rise by $0.20 to $1.50; elementary lunch would increase by $0.15 to $2.50; middle- and high-school lunches would be set at $2.65. Administration projected the change would raise roughly $55,000 to offset rising food costs.
Board members approved the CEP resolution and the meal-price changes by voice vote. Administration said it is monitoring federal funding and will return with any necessary adjustments if program funding changes.
