Pushing back against the recommendation to raise school meal prices, the Canyon Independent School District voted unanimously to forgo the state’s recommended increase and to seek a waiver for raising prices for the school year.
The proposed price increase would have raised all meal prices by 10 cents across the board. All elementary lunches would have gone from $2.60 to $2.70, and secondary lunches from $2.80 to $2.90. Breakfast would have increased from $1.80 to $1.90 for both secondary and elementary students. No changes would have been made to the free or reduced lunch program. This price adjustment was to be done in accordance with the Texas Department of Agriculture’s guidance and federal standards.
Due to concerns about the price increase's impact on parents of the district, the board directed the school administration not to raise the prices and apply for a waiver for the 2024-2025 school year. Lela Vela, the chief financial officer for Canyon, explained that the food service fund would be able to maintain planned improvements for the school cafeteria and students' meals.
If a waiver is not approved, then the school would have to move forward with its proposed price increase, but Vela said that the ability to get a waiver is likely to be approved.
Laurie Gilliland, school board trustee for Place 7, spoke out against the price hike at the meeting, stating that the district's parents are already financially taxed and that the district should do its best to alleviate rising costs.
"I think parents have huge financial responsibility to provide school supplies, clothing and everything else to get ready for school," she said. "I would like to help save them money because sending a child to school is expensive. We on the board care about their financial obligations to put children in school. Every little bit helps. A lot of families are not on free and reduced lunch that could be, and this will help them alleviate costs.”
CISD board President Jenni Winegarner said she felt that this decision was important to parents and students.
"For every decision we make, we think about our students and their families as well as our staff," she said. “As we look at the budget situation that we know people in our area, state and nation are feeling, I think that on paper it sounds like an insignificant increase, but for those families it does add up. Anything we can do within the constraints of the school budget to lighten the burden on our families and still maintain the exceptional services we provide, we need to look at those."
Winegarner said that looking at the district’s existing and additional available fund balances, the district can extend this little bit of relief to their district’s families.
Kathryn Weigand, Place 2 Trustee, said that she appreciated the work of staff to help come up with this solution.
“I appreciate our staff always looking at options and alternatives that we can consider as a board,” she said. “Just learning tonight that there is a possibility of a waiver and not raising our meal prices off the bat, keeping prices as they are as we apply for it is a sign of that. It does not hurt us to apply for this waiver, as we hold prices that could benefit our students and parents across the board."
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