KANNAPOLIS — It will take 50 cents more per week to buy lunch in the Kannapolis City school system next academic year.
The Kannapolis Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to increase the lunch price by 10 cents.
That means students in kindergarten through sixth grades will have to pay $2 for lunch and those in seventh through 12th grades will pay $2.10.
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.
Under the measure, districts have to compare the average lunch price to the difference between the federal reimbursement provided for free lunches and the lower federal reimbursement provided for paid lunches.
If the average paid lunch price is less than the difference, which is the case in Kannapolis, school systems are required to gradually adjust average prices or provide funding to cover the difference.
“We’re supposed to be charging at least $2.51 for a paid lunch,” Treanor said.
But Treanor said she doesn’t expect the district to have to adjust its lunch prices that much because of other funding sources that will make up for the difference.
Read more in Wednesday’s Post.