North Hills School District To Hike Lunch Prices in Fall

By 2013, students will be forking over as much as $1 more each day for lunch at school, but they'll be eating food that's better for them

Increases are to start incrementally in the next school year under a three-year plan that the North Hills Board of Directors approved May 23.

Starting in the fall, daily lunch prices will jump 50 cents at the elementary level and 25 cents for secondary students, increasing the daily price to $2.25. Fees for meals at morning care fees also will increase 35 cents to $3.

The lunch price hike is the district's first since 2007.

New U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations require meal prices to equal federal reimbursement for free and reduced-price meals. Planned 25-cent increases will ensure compliance and raise [daily] lunch prices to $2.50 in 2012-13 and $2.75 in the 2013-14 school year, said school officials.

Cafeteria offerings also will start incorporating items based on input from recent wellness meetings in the district, said school board President Edward Wielgus.

“We are making dramatic changes to our menu for students,” he said. “Things are moving in the right direction when it comes to healthy eating.”

These changes, plus more USDA regulations, increased distributor fees, raises for food-service employees and benefits for two food-service employees, contributed to the need to raise lunch prices, said George Zappas, director of food services for the district. 

“It is a perfect storm hitting,” he said. “Everyone wants to have healthy eating, but it costs more.” 

Pending USDA guidelines announced in January are expected to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables from a combined serving of three-quarters to 1 cup to as much as 1 cup of vegetables and about 1 cup of fruit. The guidelines, when completed, also might cut starchy offerings such as white potatoes, corn and lima beans to once-a-week possibilities. Schools also might be required to use whole grains in half of their offerings and use no milk with more than 1 percent fat, according to the USDA website.

Rising fuel prices also affect costs, Zappas said.

“No one is committing to prices for a full year with gas and food prices. They will do six months,” he said. “After September or October, where do you get fresh fruits and vegetables in Pennsylvania? You don’t. You have to get it from California, and that is where the trucking part comes in.”

Healthier foods such as sweet potatoes, which can be served every day under the proposed new regulations, inflate food budgets when compared to white potatoes, he said. The orange root vegetable costs three times the amount per case of its pale relative.

Despite these hurdles, Zappas said he will continue trying to load cafeteria lines with nourishing selections the district's students will enjoy eating in the 450,000 lunches sold yearly.

“It is a hard job getting them what they like and will eat and what the parents and government want them to eat,” he said.