Skyrocketing costs forcing schools to raise lunch prices

Lancaster New Era

Published: May 09, 2008
11:37 EST

Lancaster

By ROBYN MEADOWS, Staff

Plan to pay more for your kids' school meals come fall.

Every public school district in Lancaster County is expecting to increase meal prices — ranging from a nickel to a quarter — for the 2008-09 school year.

It's not just Lancaster County. School districts nationwide are hiking the cost for breakfast, lunch and milk.

The culprit: skyrocketing fuel and food prices and threats of global shortages that are resulting in higher prices for menu staples such as apple juice, chicken tenders, yogurt and bottled water.

Vendors are "passing their price increases on to the consumer whether it be in the grocery store, in a school district or in a restaurant," said Randy Wolfgang, director of support services in the Penn Manor School District.

Percentage spikes in food prices are in the double and triple digits, school districts are seeing.

"We've gotten our bid prices back in the last month and a lot of districts have gotten sticker shock," said Gavin Scalyer, food services director for the Hempfield, Manheim Township and Pequea Valley school districts.

One vendor told Scalyer, "'I haven't seen inflation like this since the '70s."

Food-service departments operate independently from the regular school district budget. They are not-for-profit. If they don't cover any gaps, they are going to end up in the red, school officials fear.

Most local school boards plan to set new prices within the next two months. Conestoga Valley has it up for discussion at its Monday meeting, board President Idette Groff said.

Ephrata and Donegal have some prices in mind.

Breakfast at Donegal is expected to climb from 75 cents to $1; lunch at the high school from $1.60 to $1.85.

Ephrata's high school lunches are $2.10 for menu line; next year, they will be $2.25. Breakfast is climbing from 75 cents to $1.

"No one wants to raise prices," Scalyer said of school board members.

He added, "We are trying to keep the prices down."

Schools, by the way, have federally mandated portion sizes, but they could cut corners, for example, by offering five chicken tenders instead of six, officials said.

 

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Feeling the Pinch: One in a series of occasional stories on how the slumping economy impacts people here.

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"It's so hard to do a budget this year. It's like we are trying to hit a moving target in the dark," Scalyer said.

Groff said Conestoga Valley School Board members will hear recommendations on raising prices at their Monday meeting.

"We are all very aware of the fact that this is affecting everybody," she said. "And, the way the economy is now, we are are all sensitive to the pressures on everybody's pocketbook."

Penn Manor School Board won't lock in its meal prices until June, although the decision usually is made earlier, Wolfgang said.

He had hoped the district wouldn't have to increase its meal prices.

"I'm maybe looking at a nickel or 10 cents, but I'm not sure a nickel is going to be enough for next year based on the costs we are going to be absorbing," he said.

Wolfgang is also the liaison for CAFCO, a co-op of food service departments from school districts in Lancaster, Lebanon, York and Fulton counties. The departments collectively buy food in bulk.

As for the bids they are seeing for the 2008-09 school year, put it this way:

The price of a case of elbow macaroni has skyrocketed $9.80 to $17.89, or 83 percent from the bids set for this school year.

Chicken tenders are up from $20.40 to $32.70, or 60 percent.

Flour? Forget it.

For the 2008-09 school year, the price tag for a case of all-purpose white flour is rising from $13.14 to $33.60, or a 155 percent increase.

Whole-wheat flour is rising from $9.40 to $31.13, or 231 percent.

But how much the higher bids impact schools will depend on each districts' menus and on what are the big sellers are, Wolfgang said. So if they need more cases of chicken tenders, the pinch will hurt more. The price of hamburgers for Penn Manor climbed by 7 percent, relatively low compared to other items.

By the way, a few foods are cheaper.

Hot Pockets dropped 27 cents a case, or 2 percent. Sausage patties also dropped 2 percent.

A USDA report has shown the schools already are not being reimbursed enough by the government for free and reduced-price lunches.

Data from two years ago show that free lunches, on average, nationally are costing school districts $2.79 to prepare, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. But schools receive about $2.47 from federal sources and 10 cents from Pennsylvania for free lunches — not enough to food the entire bill.

Cafeterias are paying higher tabs when they offer healthier food.

School districts in Lancaster County and nationally have put in place expensive wellness policies to combat childhood obesity.

With astronomical food costs, some school districts in various regions around the country are cutting back on the variety of choices they offer.

Local school officials hope that doesn't happen, but they will cut an item from a menu if it doesn't pay for itself.

They will keep working to check expenses.

"I don't know if any of us have a crystal ball to know where prices are going to go in the next school year," Wolfgang said.


Staff writer Robyn Meadows can be reached at rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025.