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Toms River district proposes cut to student meal prices, adds three schools to federal free‑meal program
Summary
District staff told the board they will apply the Community Eligibility Provision to Walnut, Sidah Elementary and Pine Beach after a state threshold change and proposed reducing lunch by $0.75 and breakfast by $0.50 for 2024–25, with officials saying the food service fund can absorb the change and the district expects to break even or better.
District finance and food‑service staff told the Board of Education that three elementary schools will qualify next year for the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) after the New Jersey Department of Education lowered the direct‑certification threshold from 40% to 25%.
"That wound up capturing three more schools — Walnut, Sidah Elementary and Pine Beach," said Mr. Dorey, the district official presenting the food‑service update. He said the change will allow those schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students if the board approves the applications sent to the county office.
At the same time, district staff proposed reducing student meal prices for 2024–25: a $0.75 reduction for lunch and a $0.50 reduction for breakfast across elementary, intermediate and high schools. Staff presented historical meal‑price data and said the food‑service fund currently has a positive fund balance and projections indicate the district can "reduce the meal charge and still break even or better."
To illustrate the household effect, Mr. Dorey said a parent paying for a child's lunch for roughly 175 days would save about $131 under the $0.75 reduction. "When you think about it in relation to, say, even a 9.9 tax increase, that would be $325," he said, adding the meal reduction offsets a significant portion of that example increase for families who pay for student meals.
Board member Lucy Morrison said she had heard complaints from families about lunch costs. "I had a parent of four at Toms River High School South approach me about meal prices recently," Morrison said, asking that the board keep affordability in mind.
Board members did not vote on the proposed price changes at the committee meeting; staff presented the proposals and answered questions about reimbursement rates and program reimbursements. The matter will return to the board for formal consideration consistent with budget and procurement timelines.
Officials also noted roughly $34,863 per month in sponsorship and rental revenue to the district but did not indicate that the sponsorship revenue is earmarked for meal‑service subsidies.
Next steps: staff will file CEP applications with the county office and bring a formal meal‑price recommendation to the full board for a vote later in the budget cycle.
