Title: School lunch prices on the rise | Education | buffalonews.com
Headings: School lunch prices on the rise
Live
Watch Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention
School lunch prices on the rise
Increasing costs
Closing the gap

Content: Take, for example, Lake Shore Central School District. Elementary students in Lake Shore will pay $1.15 for lunch this year – less than any other district in Erie or Niagara county. Adults who buy the same lunch pay $3.36. “That is really closer in line with the true meal cost,” said Daniel Pacos, assistant superintendent of schools for administration and finance. The federal government also pays more. 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.