Title: School lunch prices on the rise | Education | buffalonews.com
Headings: School lunch prices on the rise
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School lunch prices on the rise
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Closing the gap

Content: Its reimbursement for lunches provided to low-income students for free and reduced prices is higher than what districts charge students – a gap federal lawmakers have tried to close by mandating that school districts gradually increase prices. “We’re subsidizing, in a sense, those paying children with the monies that we’re getting from the federal government for our free children,” said Barbara Goodman, director of food services for Akron Central Schools, where an elementary school lunch costs a child $1.80. The federal government pays $3.04 for that same meal, Goodman said. For some districts, the federal requirement to increase prices has helped balance lunch budgets. “It’s keeping us in the black, at this point,” said Paul Blowers, business manager for East Aurora Union Free School District, where the cost of an elementary school lunch will increase by a dime to $1.70 because of the federal rules. School administrators and food service directors across the region said they are reluctant to increase prices, especially when they know families can be hard hit when they don’t qualify for reduced-price lunches. In Frontier earlier this month, some parents complained to School Board members that a proposed lunch price was too much and that they could pack lunches for their children for less money than what the district charges. “Really, now, it’s probably true,” Birmingham said. “ But they’re not packing the same things that we are required to put out on the line for lunch.” email: