School Lunch Prices Affected By Fuel Cost

Already under siege by rapidly rising gasoline and grocery prices, family budgets are about to take another hit in a couple of months.

School lunch prices around Van Zandt County are likely to increase by as much as 50 cents when students return in August. Based on 180 instructional days in a school year, that means a jump of up to $90 per student.

Worse yet, superintendents say it still may not be enough to cover cafeteria operation costs.

"We know we will have to go up on lunch prices," Martins Mill ISD Superintendent Todd Schneider said. "Right now, though, it is hard to even predict if that will be enough, and with all the rumors on what gas could be going up to later this year, that is going to effect food prices even more."

School districts generally try to toe the line on school lunch prices while keeping the program self-sustaining, if not profitable. During the last school year, though, the sudden and dramatic spike in gasoline and diesel prices caught everyone off guard, Schneider said.

"In past years, we had always been fortunate enough to make a little money on ours, but finishing this year, we were unable to do so because of the change in prices in just the last six months," he said.

Other districts really felt the pain of the recent cost increases with more on the way. Edgewood ISD Superintendent Jack Shellnut said the situation in his district got to a point where it could no longer sustain loss margins in the lunch program.

"We do not have a lot of free and reduced lunch kids, so we don’t get much federal money on our cafeteria," Shellnut said. "We can no longer afford what we’re losing. We have no choice but to go up on lunch prices."

He said the issue will be addressed at Monday’s Edgewood ISD School Board meeting, but just how much the district would increase prices is unknown at this point. Last school year, Edgewood ISD served 32,000 breakfasts and 120,000 lunches.

"At one time, our food service director got over 60 pages of line item food increases during the year," Shellnut said. "We have put bids out this summer, but there is no telling what those will come back at."

The expected increases will be more bad news for families already dealing with a rapidly tightening grocery budget. Van ISD Superintendent Joddie Witt noted a recent national news show demonstrating how a family of four is now spending $1,000 a month on groceries that cost $700 a year ago.

"We increased our prices (for the 2008-2009 school year) about a month ago by 20 cents. When we did that, it still places us kind of in the middle of what local school districts charge for lunches," Witt said. "But we don’t feel real comfortable at 20 cents, and if gas continues to increase, that 20 cents will not cover costs."

School districts are trying to find other ways to help keep costs at bay. Van ISD recently joined a regional food purchasing cooperative, hoping to get some help through the bulk purchases.

"We’re going to see if volume buying with other districts will help, and see if that can cut costs a little without having to increase (lunch) prices again," Witt said.

"You have to be creative, too. Along with ordering what you can in bulk, you try to find creative ways to making it work," Schneider said. "We have a cafeteria director (Rita Williams) who does a great job trying to predict things that will help financially with the lunch program."

The biggest problem in the coming school year is the uncertainty when, or even if, prices will stabilize.

"There is no telling when it will stop. You try and do your best, but if gas prices do not level off at some point, I can see a lot of school districts having to make budget amendments during the year," Schneider said.

"It is not just the food service side, but the operations of the entire district we are struggling with," Van ISD Chief Finance Officer Danny Morrow said. "All of our fixed costs are increasing due to price increases in fuel, transportation, maintenance and supplies.

"We are struggling with making a budget for the whole district, because it is tough to get accurate estimates when you’ve got such a moving target," Morrow said.

Even with prices on the rise, though, Witt reiterated that school lunches are a great value. Van students in elementary and intermediate school will pay $1.80 in the fall, with junior high and high school students at $2.

"They are still so reasonable. You can’t buy a hamburger for that money and that doesn’t include anything else or a drink," Witt said.