Prescott board approves modest school lunch price increase; summer meal program to start

The Prescott School District board approved updated food-service pricing for the 2026–27 school year after a presentation by the district’s food-services staff.

Nicole, who introduced herself during the presentation, said state Department of Public Instruction calculations required a roughly $0.25 increase under the DPI price-equation (PLE), and she illustrated the household impact: "if your child eats every lunch all year long it's $45 a year more," she said. Nicole told the board the district attempted to reduce impacts by balancing a la carte adjustments and limiting price increases in staff meals.

The presenter also described a new summer meal program launching the following day, with roughly 400 children already signed up. She highlighted local garden efforts that produced about 66 pounds of lettuce this year and suggested expanding that program to additional schools.

Board members asked for detail on the DPI calculation and the PLE process; Nicole said she works with the district’s DPI agent (named Jill) and offered to provide the board with the calculation details. After a brief question-and-answer period the board moved to approve the updated meal pricing; the motion passed on a voice vote with one recorded opposition.

The board did not specify dollar totals for the district food-service budget adjustments at the meeting.