EVSD board votes to raise food prices
East Valley School District board members narrowly approved raising hot lunch and breakfast prices an average of 7.4 percent Tuesday night amid concerns about how the move would affect family budgets.
Board member Mitch Jensen broke down the number of students paying full price for each meal at each school. There are 322 high school students paying full price for lunch each day. The cost of high school lunches will go up 15 cents to $2.60, an increase of 6.1 percent. The change works out to 75 cents per week. “We really need to look at it that way,” Jensen said. “The numbers are low at this level. I think people can come up with a 75-cent-per-week increase.”
Board member Mike Harris said the parents he has spoken to are against the increase. Many families have more than one student.
“They were through the roof,” he said. “These were friends, too, but they were all over me.”
Board member Roger Trainor took the opportunity to bring out a list of things he believes need to be improved in food services, including reducing the amount of waste and figuring out why so much processed food is served. He also called the practice of serving lunch in gyms “disgusting.”
“Until some of these things are fixed, I won’t be able to vote for this increase,” he said.
Other increases
Middle school breakfast 10 cents to $1.35; elementary breakfast 20 cents to $1.35; middle school lunch 20 cents to $2.40; elementary lunch 15 cents to $2.10; and adult lunch 30 cents to $3.50. The changes are estimated to bring in an additional $34,000 in the 2008-09 school year.
The board also passed the 2008-09 budget with little discussion. Board members previously held a three-hour workshop to discuss the budget in detail. The budget calls for spending $41.8 million with revenue expected to be $41.7 million. The partial restoration of $1.8 million in positions and services cut in 2007 will continue.
Voters will get a late Christmas present in February 2009 after the district pays its final bond payment in December. “This district will be debt-free of voted bonds,” said Business Manager Al Swanson. “Taxpayers should see a very significant decrease in taxes.”
The board approved a new fuel contract with Whitley Fuel. The $355,800 bid was slightly higher than the low bid of $354,180 submitted by CityService, but Whitley has multiple locations while CityService only dispenses fuel at one location at Appleway and Barker. Under that scenario buses would have to drive an average of six more miles to refuel, which would add another $20,250 to the base price.