GILROY
– The price of school meals increased last week for the first
time in three years to compensate for rising costs to provide meal
service and less money from the government for free and
reduced-price meals.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – The price of school meals increased last week for the first time in three years to compensate for rising costs to provide meal service and less money from the government for free and reduced-price meals.
The increase reflects the rising household income in Gilroy. As fewer students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, the district must absorb more of the cost to run the program, district officials said. Additionally, the district pays more of the operational food service costs as median house prices continue to increase.
Student meals will cost an additional 25 cents, with an elementary school breakfast costing $1 and lunch costing $1.75. Secondary school breakfasts now cost $1.75 and lunches $2.
The decrease in government reimbursement, combined with costs of food, labor, meal packaging and maintenance left the district with a $22,000 deficit in operational costs last year, said Dan Valles, food service consultant for Gilroy Unified School District.
That cost will be paid from the food service fund balance that is usually reserved for purchasing new equipment, Valles said.
“We probably won’t get that back, but we’re hoping that we’ll break even,” he said.
Participation in the program has increased over the past three years – from 4,391 students purchasing lunch daily in 2000-01 to 4,680 students in 2002-03 – which has helped offset some of the higher costs, Valles said.
Meanwhile, the number of free and reduced meals decreased over the last three. In 2000-1, 4,322 students bought free and reduced-price meals daily, but in 2001-02 it was 3,986.
“We’ve reached a point in time that an increase in meal prices needs to occur so there is not a substantial loss in fund balance,” said Lee White, assistant superintendent of administrative services.
The state and federal governments will reimburse the district $2.34 for each free meal and $1.94 for a reduced-price meal this year. The district will receive 23 cents from the federal government for each full-price meal. The amount of reimbursement is determined by the government’s National School Lunch Program.
The student meal fee increase is expected to raise $77,000 in the 2002-03 school year, which will allow the food service program to balance its operational costs.
Schools offer students a choice of five lunch items each day, usually including pizza, hamburgers, burritos or rice and chicken. Schools with kitchen facilities can also offer salad and a snack bar. Prepackaged breakfasts can include yogurt, cereal or danishes while freshly prepared breakfasts can consist of hot muffins, waffles, eggs or pancakes.
Students can qualify to receive a free or reduced-price lunch by filling out an application specifying their household income and the number of people living in the house. Under the national guidelines, a child from a family of four with a household income of $23,530 or less receives free breakfast and lunch, and a child whose household income is between $23,530 and $33,485 receives meals at a reduced price of 30 cents for breakfast, 40 cents for lunch.
Parents were not concerned about the increase in meal prices.
“It’s well worth it and well within our budget,” said Robyn Houts, whose son is in fourth grade at Rucker Elementary School.
Popular snack foods like Lunchables are much more expensive and less healthy than the school-provided meals, she said.
“What (schools) offer is nutritious, but the kids don’t always choose to eat the healthy choice,” she said.
Seven schools in GUSD have a kitchen on site and prepare hot meals, while four do not. Las Animas, El Roble, Glen View and Rod Kelley receive prepackaged meals from the district’s central kitchen.
“Any time you have pre-packaged food, the quality isn’t going to be as good as a hot lunch,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz said.
The district has made kitchen facilities a priority at the schools. Las Animas is scheduled to be re-built with a state-of-the-art kitchen in a few years.
Diaz tasted a prepackaged meal at Las Animas last year after being challenged by a fifth-grader to eat the “unacceptable” food.
“It was a nutritious meal, and it wasn’t ‘yucky’ like the kids said,” Diaz said.
Kira Zabaleta has two sons at Las Animas that eat free meals for breakfast and lunch. She said the breakfast and lunch options suit her sons just fine.
“They like it,” she said. “The quality is good, because they eat it.”
