CROOKSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT RAISES MEAL PRICES

The Crookston School Board met on Monday evening and approved an increase in the school lunch and breakfast prices due to paid lunch equity that is required by the USDA. If you charge less than the national average, this year’s national average was $2.86 and Crookston was charging $2.60 for high school and $2.50 for elementary lunches. “We are required to increase full pay student lunches by an average of 10 cents per meal or we could use non-federal funding to cover this difference,” said Crookston Food Service Director Anna Brekken. “So we are going to raise high school and adult lunch and breakfast prices by 10 cents per meal and elementary lunch and breakfast prices will be raised by five cents.”

– Elementary breakfast – 1.35 (2016 it was 1.30)
– Elementary Lunch – 2.55 (2016 it was 2.50)
– High School lunch – 2.70 (2016 it was 2.60)
– High School breakfast – 1.60 (2016 it was 1.55)
– Adult breakfast – 2.40 (2016 it was 2.30)
– Adult lunch – 3.75 (2016 it was 3.65)

The high school and adult lunch and breakfast prices will increase 10 cents per meal and the elementary lunch and breakfasts increase five cents per meal for the upcoming school year.  The increased price is still better than most districts in the area. “I looked at some of the area school districts and compared prices and we seem to be on the low end,” said Brekken.

Last school year, Crookston School District had 47 percent of the students on free and reduced meals.  30 to 35 percent of the students at the high school are on free and reduced meals while over 50 percent of the elementary students are on free and reduced meals.

School Board member Tim Dufualt asked how many calories are in the lunches they served.  Brekken said they are between 750 to 850 calories on average.  The suggested calorie intake for students is anywhere from 2,200 for an inactive kid to 3,000 for an active (athletic) male.

The School Board also approved Policy 534 (Unpaid Meal Charges), as recommended by the Minnesota School Boards Association.  Crookston hasn’t had a formal policy in place and they have unpaid meal debt at the end of the school year.  “We have had our way of doing things here, without a formal policy in place,” said Brekken. “We don’t cut off students who have debt because they can’t pay for lunches, but we encourage them to turn in the free and reduced meal applications. The free and reduced application doesn’t hurt anyone, it is going to help you and help us and it will give us a way to send out notifications and let students and parents know they maybe low or in debt and the process we will take to pay for the meals if the parent or guardian can’t.”

School Meal prices in the area in 2016-2017 school year –