School meal prices going up in Whitfield

Published 9:36 pm Monday, May 4, 2015

Students in Whitfield County public schools will be required to pay an additional dime next year for each breakfast or lunch at school, except for elementary students, who receive free breakfast.

The Whitfield County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to increase meal prices at all levels 10 cents for students and another 15 cents for adults.

The increase is necessary to comply with regulations set by the National School Lunch Program, which requires school food authorities to “ensure that sufficient funds are provided to the nonprofit school food service account for meals served to students not eligible for free or reduced price meals,” according to Mike Ewton, chief officer of operations for Whitfield County Schools.

A Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) formula is used by school districts to set meal prices, and through an annual audit conducted recently it was determined that Whitfield County School Nutrition would need to set higher prices, Ewton said.

“The increase is to cover plate cost, per the calculation,” Ewton said. “It is something we really don’t have much of an option with.”

Breakfast will remain free for all elementary students, but lunch for those students not receiving free or reduced price lunches will increase from $1.90 to $2.

Middle and high school students will pay $1.25 for breakfast and $2.25 for lunch.

The price of breakfast will increase to $1.75 for adults and to $3 for lunch.

A middle or high student who eats breakfast and lunch every day at school would pay $35.60 more over the course of next year.

In other business Monday, board members approved more than $700,000 in donations from an anonymous donor who has already contributed millions of dollars to the district.

The money will fund a new mower and band trailer at Southeast Whitfield High School, new stage lights and a sound system at Antioch Elementary School, and a $722,000 renovation for restroom and electrical systems at Dug Gap Elementary School.

Money donated previously by the same donor — approximately $100,000 — was committed Monday for paint and tile work at New Hope Elementary School.

Board members also voted to buy Chromebooks and other materials to be used at Northwest Middle School in the amount of $48,000.