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
Increasing costs
Closing the gap

Content: Employee benefits last year increased 28 percent in the district’s food service budget. “Labor costs are going up,” said Frontier Food Service Director Susan Birmingham. “ Certainly, the cost of state retirement in New York State and health insurance is really astronomical.” A proposed 50-cent increase to Frontier’s school lunch prices for the new school year is on hold as Birmingham and administrators explore other options, said Boyle, the district School Board president. Food service directors across the region say they are taking steps to save money as they expand healthy food options. Local school districts are bidding together on everything from whole wheat crackers to pizza in an attempt to use their combined spending power to drive prices lower. Districts also have trimmed employee hours and started ordering directly from area farmers. In Williamsville Central Schools, the district has a large warehouse where it stores deliveries of fresh apples and other local produce, as well as products delivered directly from manufacturers. “That does save us a good amount of money,” said Kathryn Christopher, Williamsville’s director of childhood nutrition. Closing the gap
While parents are paying more for their children’s school lunches, the actual cost is much higher.