Carroll ISD to consider raising cost of school lunches

Carroll ISD may be raising the price of school lunch plates as a result of rising national averages of food and paper goods.

At a meeting on Feb. 28, the board of trustees discussed an item presented by district administration that called for an increase of $0.75 per plate lunch in reaction to a 30%-40% increase on food and paper goods.

Currently, plate lunches cost $3 at elementary schools and $3.25 at secondary schools in the district. CISD’s cost to make the lunches is $3.60 per plate, which is $0.22 less than the national average, according to district documents.

Increasing the price of elementary school plate lunches to $3.75 and secondary school plate lunches to $4 would have generated approximately $553,000 and helped to offset projected budget deficits if enacted on March 1, according to CISD documents.

School board members expressed concern about raising prices with short notice, as many parents in the district budget for lunches at the beginning of the school year. Trustee Hannah Smith asked district staff to conduct research to see what it costs surrounding districts to make school lunches per plate.

The agenda item was tabled, with several trustee members agreeing that while the price of plate lunches will most likely need to increase to offset increased paper and food costs, more time was needed to determine the amount each plate will increase by and to give parents time to prepare for the increase.