The cost of school lunch at nearly every school in Lincoln County will go up by at least a nickel this fall, district officials said. The increase is driven by a new federal mandate that school lunches cost $2.46.
The new law requires that any school district whose lunches cost less than $2.46 must raise prices by at least five cents this year, and continue to increase them until they reach that level. The $2.46-mark reportedly may change in the coming years.
Currently, the federal government pays districts 26-cents for every student who buys lunch. For students who qualify for free lunch, the federal government pays $2.77. When a district charges students less than $2.46, they net more income from students who qualify for free lunch than those who pay for lunch.
The new federal mandate is an attempt to lessen the gap between what students are paying and what the federal government is paying, school officials in several districts said.
Stormie Hendrickson, Food Services Director for RSU/MSAD 40, said it costs the district “close to $3 per student per meal” to serve lunch. However, with their ala Carte, vending machines, and other programs, RSU/MSAD 40 actually makes money on lunch – one of only a few districts in the state to do so, she said.
“Not by much, but we come out a little bit ahead,” Hendrickson said.
RSU/MSAD 40’s lunch costs are in line – if a little low – with what other districts said lunch costs them.
Increases in lunch prices around Lincoln County this fall are:
• 9-12: up 10-cents to $2.50
• Somerville School: up 10-cents to $1.75
• Wiscasset High School: no change, $2.50
• Boothbay Region High School: no change, $2.50
• Southport Central School: up 5-cents to $1.80
