California school district raises meal prices to cover losses

Public schools are struggling to bring students back to the lunch table, as more campuses raise prices and tweak menus in response to tougher federal food regulations that require the use of healthier and more costly ingredients.

The changes are particularly painful in the upper grades where students often head out to fast-food restaurants at lunch, eschewing the healthier options offered on campus. Their departure is a double-whammy for school nutrition programs that are losing customers and revenue, just as costs linked to the new guidelines are skyrocketing.

Siri Pearlman, the nutrition specialist with the San Dieguito Union High School District, said her district recently raised meal prices for the first time in seven years to try to balance the budget.

“With a la carte choices so limited, many students go off campus for food, soda and sugary snacks,” she said. “We have experienced a 10 percent drop in revenue.”

Schools say the mandatory guidelines — which cover everything from serving sizes, to what types of snacks can be served, to what ingredients go into bread — have caused many lunch programs to operate at a loss.

“The rules and regulations are a significant burden,” said Christopher Wright, associate superintendent of business services with Oceanside Unified. “It’s a difficult program to manage.”

In response to the growing losses, public school districts in several communities across the region have raised their meal prices after years of holding the line. They say more hikes are likely.

Lunch-program losses in the 2014-15 fiscal year were estimated at $175,000 in the San Dieguito Union High School District; $100,000 in Carlsbad Unified; $118,000 in Encinitas Union; $410,000 in Poway Unified; and a whopping $700,000 in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

Eric Span, director of nutrition services for Sweetwater, said it could take two or three years to dig out of its hole. “We’ll work aggressively to monitor costs, and make sure they trend downward,” he said.