By SAMANTHA MCDONNELL
OBSERVER Staff Writer
GOWANDA - Students and faculty may be paying more for meals at Gowanda Central School. School lunch manager Jason Whipple presented information about meals at a recent school board meeting.
Article Photos
OBSERVER Photo by Samantha McDonnell
Board of Education members heard a presentation regarding the current state of the lunch program at the school. Pictured is Superintendent Charles Rinaldi.
Whipple explained about the fund balance in the school lunch program. During the 2011-12 school year, the fund balance was at a loss of $40,000. During 2010, the loss was approximately $70,000 and for the upcoming school year, Whipple estimates the loss for the upcoming school year will be around $36,000.
"If we continue to operate at this level, our fund balance will diminish," Whipple said.
Since the fund balance is in danger, Whipple has proposed increasing lunch prices to generate additional revenue for the program. Whipple presented the board with options that showed varied price increases ranging from $0.10 to $0.40.
"We're at the very low end of the spectrum," Whipple said. "With the increases, it will put us back in the middle of the pack for all of Western New York."
Current prices for the school are $1.00 for breakfast, $1.40 elementary lunch, $1.45 middle/high school lunch and $3.10 for adults. One of the scenarios presented was increasing student prices $0.15 and adult prices $0.40. The new lunch prices would be $1.15 for breakfast, $1.55 for elementary lunch, $1.60 for middle/high lunch and $3.50 for adult.
During the presentation, Whipple also asked the board to consider picking up the school lunch insurance for those who have grandfathered in to the program. The amount would be just under $25,000, Whipple said. The cost would drop off in future years and eventually taper off as the number of those who are grandfathered would decrease.
District Clerk Joelle Woodward said the board does have flexibility with the budget and the amount could be added in if necessary.
Board President Mark Nephew suggested the meal prices be raised to $4 for adults and only raise $0.30 for students. Nephew also suggested only taking on half of the lunch program insurance cost which would be approximately $12,000.
The board did not act on the price increases or the insurance inclusion. The board will again address both issues at its reorganizational meeting in July.
In other business:
The school accepted a donation of $880 from the Gowanda Parent Teacher Association to benefit the Gowanda Varsity Track Team.
The following substitutes were approved: Darlene Pfaffenbach, Danielle Hall, Rebecca Grudzien and Rhiannon Starks.
The following were approved as elementary summer school teachers: Cheryl Tripp as Pre-K; Ashley Setter as Kindergarten; Georgeanne Strawbrich as Grade 1; Ryan Lipinski as Grade 2; Bethany Hobbs as Grade 3; and Ashley Driscoll as Grade 4. Susan Baker and Carol Weinheimer were approved as teaching assistants for the program.
Comments on this article may be sent to smcdonnell@observertoday.com.
