The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider approving a 10-cent increase to meal prices after deferring the vote at its previous meeting.
Proposed new meal prices were originally on the board’s June 9 consent agenda — a list of items routinely approved in one motion unless a board member or the superintendent pulls an item for discussion — but administrators moved it to the regular agenda before the meeting began.
Julie Henry, director of nutrition and wellness, told the board the district’s weighted paid meal price in 2024-25 was around $3, but the United States Department of Agriculture determined its weighted average price requirement for lunch in 2025-26 is nearly $1 more than that. The difference is a loss on every fully paid meal the district serves to a student.
Federal law requires local districts to annually adjust their meal prices to align with the USDA, and 10 cents is the minimum increase allowed each year.
In 2024-25, lunch rates for elementary, middle and high school students who are not in the free and reduced-price lunch program are $3, $3.20 and $3.25. If approved, new prices in 2025-26 would be set at $3.10 for elementary, $3.30 for middle and $3.35 for high schools.
Full-price breakfasts for elementary, middle and high school students were previously set at $2, $2.10 and $2.15. New prices would be $2.10 for elementary, $2.20 for middle and $2.25 for high schools.
Reduced-price lunches and breakfasts would remain the same, priced at 40 cents and 30 cents, respectively.
Adult meals would cost $5.10 for lunch and $3.10 for breakfast, up from $5 and $3.
Meal prices appear again Monday on the consent agenda, which also includes a memorandum of understanding for the University of Kansas Jayhawk Blueprint program, the purchase of middle school football uniforms, the purchase of STEAM materials and several more items.
There are no reports or new business items scheduled. Board members will discuss personnel matters with Superintendent Jeanice Swift at the end of the meeting in a 30-minute executive session, or closed-door meeting.
The board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, June 23 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.
Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@USD497, and broadcast on Midco channel 26. Full meeting agendas are available on BoardDocs, via go.boarddocs.com.
To give public comment, sign up by noon the day of the meeting by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org. Commenters may request to participate by Webex video/phone conferencing.
Additionally, the board will hold a special meeting and board retreat the following day on Tuesday, June 24 at the district’s Facilities and Operations building, 711 E. 23rd St. There will be no public comment, per usual at special meetings.
The board will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday for a light meal before breaking into two executive sessions at 5:30 p.m. to complete a self-evaluation and an operations manual review.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
