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Arlington board amends hot‑lunch budget and approves modest meal-price increases
Summary
After a special hearing, the Arlington Public Schools board approved a $435,000 appropriation for the school nutrition fund to match higher food costs and revenues from lunch sales, and set 2026–27 student meal prices to help close a projected gap. Board members said the change will not raise the tax levy.
Jason Hart, board chair, presided over a special public hearing July 13 and asked Doctor Lewis to outline a proposed amendment to the school nutrition fund.
Doctor Lewis told the board the district’s originally adopted hot‑lunch budget was about $389,261 but that higher food costs and underestimated sales required an update. “We just need to amend the hot lunch portion of the budget to, this what's more comfortable here, the $435,000,” he said, adding that “most of that is in food.” He said auditors had flagged last year’s overspending in the hot‑lunch account and the amendment was needed to keep the district in compliance.
Doctor Lewis said the increased appropriation would be covered primarily by higher lunch sales and existing transfers from the general fund, not by property taxes: “It’s not an increase to, that is connected to the levy at all,” he said, explaining that some August lunch receipts are recorded in the prior fiscal year and that revenue projections were adjusted accordingly.
After discussion and clarification about the $45,000 gap (Doctor Lewis said the increase was mostly food costs and a revenue bump, and that transfers already budgeted would fill the remainder), the board voted to approve the 2025–26 budget as amended so the hot‑lunch fund would not be overspent and the district would meet state auditors’ expectations.
The board also approved a modest meal‑price increase for 2026–27 to help stabilize the fund. Administrators described the change as a 35¢ maximum increase on the meal menu that will still keep Arlington’s prices below many neighboring districts; Doctor Lewis framed the move as one part of a larger mix that includes transfers from the general fund and efforts to increase direct certification for free/reduced‑price meals.
The amendment and price changes were framed by administrators as procedural steps to align appropriations with projected expenditures and revenues; no change to the district’s tax levy was reported. The board did not set any additional tasks other than normal budgeting follow‑up and monitoring of the hot‑lunch fund.
