School Meal Prices Going Up, Happiness Going Down

July 19, 2024

Before I dive into the OOMPH-itude of the Coweta County School Board raising lunch prices, it’s important to note that I DO NOT pay for my kids’ meals at school. My ex-wife has covered the cost of soggy sandwiches and mystery pasta. And while I haven’t been Harold Money Bags Dad very often, I do still bring her the occasional (once every two weeks) Chic Fil A or Micky Deez Nugz. All that to say…

The CCBE (Coweta County Bored of Excitement—lol, such a dumb joke) approved an increase in meal prices for the first time since 2019! This comes after the State Nutrition Administration reviewed Coweta’s meal pricing, which is based on the overall cost of food. Basically, it means that everything is a lot more expensive in the world, and that includes your child’s ability to eat between classes.

“The USDA actually requires it because the School Food Authority has to show that it is making an effort to be self-supporting, and that those federal reimbursements that we do receive say, for free or reduced-price meals, that those aren’t subsidizing the program overall,” Horton said.

The superintendent then detailed the process for making this decision.

“We used what’s called a paid lunch equity tool to go in and put formula in, take your participation rate, your number of students that happen to be free and reduced lunch, your number of paid meals that you have each day, all of that goes into this paid lunch equity tool and it pops out the number that you’re actually required to raise meal prices to meet that threshold,” Horton said. “It’s not something that we want to do, it’s something that we’re required to do, unfortunately.”

While the exact details of the price increase are unknown to me (someone message me with those dollar signs), people are reasonably upset. Perhaps it’s the timing of it all, perhaps it’s another Joe Biden trick, or perhaps it’s the lack of empathy from those involved, but no one is happy to see more money coming out of their pockets for more necessities. Something has got to give. Unfortunately, that something is more money, and you’re giving it away.

I’d be a bully if I just left you with that information. Here are five great ideas for feeding your kids this school year that will NOT break the bank: