Brentwood board approves 10¢ increase to school meal prices as food-service fund runs a larger-than-expected loss

District finance staff told the Brentwood School Board that the district's food-service operation is operating at a larger loss than budgeted and recommended a modest 10¢ increase for both breakfast and lunch to help narrow the deficit.

Administrators said the food-service fund was planned to lose about $20,000 this year but now looks closer to a $29,000 loss, driven by higher food prices and lower-than-expected participation. "We planned for a $20,000 loss; now it's looking more like $29,000," the business office explained during the financial review.

Under the motion approved by the board, breakfast will rise from $2.50 to $2.60 and lunch from $3.75 to $3.85. Board members discussed state and federal reimbursement rules for free and reduced-price meals, noting that reimbursement rates and program participation affect how much of the cost the district recovers.

Participation in paid lunches was described as varying seasonally (the central finance report showed participation rates ranging roughly from the mid-30s to the mid-50s percent per month), and staff said they would examine ways to increase participation and explore whether sharing food-service administrative costs across schools could reduce overhead.

Board members asked staff to provide an itemized breakdown of food-service revenues and expenses, invoices for any recent increases (including the cost drivers), and an estimate of how the 10¢ increase would affect projected losses for the coming year.

No further fiscal action was taken at the meeting; staff will return with more detailed projections and supporting invoices over the summer.