School meals change prices, still ensure same level of access

Food service for the Hot Springs County School District is undergoing some significant shifts for the coming school year, as District Business Manager Chauncy Johnson reported to the school board on July 19, when he sought the board trustees’ approval for a new set of school meal prices, which they granted unanimously.

Before Johnson had even moved onto the food service portion of the board meeting’s agenda, he reported to the board that he’d increased the subsidy for food service in the district’s budget, from $20,000 to $125,000 for the 2022-23 school year.

“This will be the first year that we will be charging for meals again,” Johnson said. “Food costs are up roughly around 10%, so I’ve added more cushion into that food service subsidy.”

Board Treasurer Nichole Weyer followed up on the school lunch subsidy.

“Is that the amount of money you’re planning on being refilled, as students pay for their own lunches, or is that the amount we don’t think their families will be able to afford?” Weyer asked.

“That figure is really based on a combination of all those things,” Johnson said. “There’s also some cushion in there for the unknown, because I just don’t know exactly how that will turn out.”

Johnson clarified that, when he referred to “trying to take pressure off” the district’s general fund, with the American Rescue Plan Act’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, it’s an alternative he’s already discussed with other school districts’ business managers.

“Anything that’s an overage is on the district, whether it’s because families aren’t able to pay, or whether it’s because you’ve just got to pay your operation,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to pay for cooks. You’ve got to pay for food costs, (which) have increased dramatically.”

Weyer then inquired about possible legal issues involving funding for free and reduced-price school lunches becoming somehow contingent upon meeting certain external standards for equity.

Johnson deduced Weyer’s question pertained to “the new discrimination statement, that includes verbiage on gender identity and so forth,” and informed her, “I don’t know of anything the supreme court has changed on that.”

Johnson elaborated that “what that non-discrimination statement is saying is that our cooks, our head cooks, our teachers, our (paraeducators) can’t discriminate, can’t withhold food from a student who identifies as another gender, or something like that.”

Johnson conceded that certain terminology might cause some discomfort, “but in reality, it’s not forcing the school district to do anything but ensure that everybody will be treated equally,” which Board Chair Sherman Skelton noted was already in line with existing district policy.

Once Johnson officially moved into the food service update portion of the meeting, he pointed out that the Hot Springs County School District is among many school districts in the state that are “moving into a new year of charging for meals, for those who do not qualify for a free lunch,” as well as setting new rates for those who qualify for reduced-priced lunches.

The district’s new prices for school meals will be $2.30 per breakfast for grades K-12, $2.95 per lunch for grades K-4 and $3.30 per lunch for grades 5-12.

Non-student breakfasts — serving teachers, parents, and in Johnson’s words, “anybody who comes to eat at one of our cafeterias — will be $2.50 each, while non-student lunches will be $5 each.

“These recommendations are a direct result of not having changed our prices on anything for at least seven years, that I know of, as well as the increased cost of food,” Johnson said.

Johnson confirmed for Board Trustee Jennifer Axtell that California-based TITAN School Solutions remains the Hot Springs County School District’s point of sale and depository for funds, so no one should need to re-register their existing accounts, nor should their balances have changed at all.

“And of course, to add to (your balance), you’d go into (your account) and do the same process,” Johnson said.