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District report: school meal participation up but lunch program shortfalls widened
Summary
Carlinville CUSD 1 reported a 3.9% increase in lunches served in 2025 but larger per-day losses in the district meal program tied to wage and benefit cost increases; district staff said current participation levels keep the district below CEP break-even thresholds.
District staff told the board Dec. 15 that cafeteria participation and costs have both risen, and program revenues are not keeping pace with expenditures. Heather DeNeve presented a district cafeteria analysis showing lunches served increased from 89,932 in 2024 to 93,425 in 2025 (a 3.9% increase) while per-day revenue and cost calculations produced a larger daily shortfall in 2025 than in 2024.
DeNeve cited labor and benefits as primary cost drivers and said the district is constrained on how much it can raise prices: "By law we can only raise the meals by 10cents per year, and we are behind on charging what the actual meal cost," she said. Kim Maguire, director of food service, was praised for managing costs with a small staff; DeNeve noted the district would need about 70% of students to qualify for free/reduced-price meals under CEP to break even, but the current qualifying rate is about 40%.
The analysis also showed revenue per meal fell from $4.78 in 2024 to $4.51 in 2025 while meal cost fell from $5.13 to $4.95, increasing the per-meal loss from $0.35 to $0.44. Board members heard staffing counts for meal service by school and discussed that increased labor costs are squeezing the program.
