MONROE - Lunch prices in Monroe schools will increase by a dime next year.
School lunches will rise from $2 now to $2.10 for sixth to eighth graders next year. Lunch prices for kindergarten through fifth graders will increase from $1.75 to $1.85 and high school lunches will jump from $2.25 to $2.35.
Monroe School District Business Manager Ron Olson said the decision to raise lunch prices was based on a federal requirement on equity in school lunches included in the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.
The act, according to the USDA, is designed to ensure that schools are providing the same level of support for students who are free lunch eligible as they are to students who are not eligible for free and reduced lunches.
Olson said that, essentially, the government wants to ensure that it isn't subsidizing the overall school district lunch program with its contributions to free and reduce lunch.
About 38.5 percent of Monroe students are eligible for free or reduced lunch programs, though Olson said on Tuesday that the number "varies from building to building" and that some schools are over the 50 percent mark.
Olson added that the Monroe district hasn't raised the price of student lunches in more than five years.
School lunches will rise from $2 now to $2.10 for sixth to eighth graders next year. Lunch prices for kindergarten through fifth graders will increase from $1.75 to $1.85 and high school lunches will jump from $2.25 to $2.35.
Monroe School District Business Manager Ron Olson said the decision to raise lunch prices was based on a federal requirement on equity in school lunches included in the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.
The act, according to the USDA, is designed to ensure that schools are providing the same level of support for students who are free lunch eligible as they are to students who are not eligible for free and reduced lunches.
Olson said that, essentially, the government wants to ensure that it isn't subsidizing the overall school district lunch program with its contributions to free and reduce lunch.
About 38.5 percent of Monroe students are eligible for free or reduced lunch programs, though Olson said on Tuesday that the number "varies from building to building" and that some schools are over the 50 percent mark.
Olson added that the Monroe district hasn't raised the price of student lunches in more than five years.