Kannapolis school system raises lunch prices

By Sarah Campbell

scampbell@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — It will take 50 cents more per week to buy lunch in Kannapolis City Schools next academic year.

But breakfast will be free to all starting in March.

The school system’s board of education voted unanimously Monday to increase the lunch price by 10 cents per meal and reinstate the universal breakfast program.

That means students in kindergarten through sixth grades will have to shell out $2 for lunch and those in seventh through 12th grades will pay $2.10. The $1.10 price tag for breakfast will be nixed.

The change comes after a recommendation from Anne Treanor, the district’s child nutrition director.

She told the board the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to provide “equity in school lunch pricing,” a provision that went into effect last July.

According to federal standards, districts should be charging students at least $2.51 for lunch. The average price for lunch in Kannapolis is $1.95, which means the school system is either required to gradually adjust average prices or provide funding to cover the difference.

“We do our best with keeping pricing low,” Treanor said. “It’s never a popular decision to go up on lunch prices, but if your average price is less than the average reimbursement, you’re really kind of mandated to go up.

“If you’re not covering your cost for the meal, you’re not managing your program effectively.”

School board Chairwoman Danita Rickard said she hopes the increase won’t pose an “undue hardship” on parents.

“It’s a minimal increase, but in this economy, even 10 cents can be significant to many parents,” she said. “Sometimes your hands are tied and you have to make choices that you don’t want to make.”

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Treanor said it’s been at least two years since the district increased its lunch prices.

“(Parents) understood food costs were going up,” she said. “We made the decision the very next year to join the purchasing alliance so that we would have some type of savings.”

Despite the increase, the district will still have lower lunch prices than the Cabarrus County school system, which charges $2.15 and $2.25 for elementary and secondary students, respectively.

The Rowan-Salisbury School System charges elementary students $1.85 for lunch. Middle- and high-schoolers pay $2.

But that could be changing.

Rita Foil, the district’s public information officer, said the school system is waiting for direction from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction to decide whether it will increase lunch prices. She said Child Nutrition Director Libby Post plans to bring the matter before the school board in March or April.

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Treanor said she doesn’t expect the district to have to gradually increase its lunch price to $2.51 because the inception of the universal breakfast is likely to yield more federal funding to make up for the difference.

The free program equates to more students taking advantage of the opportunity to eat breakfast.

“Anytime we can increase our volume, that’s going to help us get more federal reimbursement money,” she said.

Right now, only about 30 percent of students in Kannapolis City Schools are eating breakfast at school. Treanor said she hopes to see that increase to 60 percent when the meal becomes free to all students.

“There is a cost in low participation in school breakfast, and that cost is missing out on federal reimbursement,” she said.

The free breakfast is currently being piloted at Woodrow Wilson, Fred L. Wilson and Shady Brook elementary schools as well as Kannapolis Middle.

“I don’t see any problems with expanding the program district-wide,” Treanor said. “We already have the staff in place and the food ready to serve.”

School board member Todd Adams said he’s glad the program will be back in place as of March 1.

“I think it was a loss when it had to go away,” he said.

The district served universal breakfast until about five years ago, when the program was shut down after issues with accountability.

Treanor said those issues will not be a problem this time because all meals will be distributed in the cafeteria rather than the classroom.

Rickard is also happy to see the program reinstated.

“It was available to all children several years ago and we could tell that there were children who were eating breakfast who had probably not eaten at home,” she said. “And research shows that a good breakfast is important for good nutrition, concentration and a number of other things.”

Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.

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