Gilbert Public Schools will be increasing the price of most of its meals by 10 cents for the 2024-25 school year.
The GPS Governing Board unanimously approved the increase at its April 23 meeting.
The increase will apply to lunches at all levels and breakfasts at elementary schools.
The price hike is because of increases in food and supply costs, increases in labor costs and decreases in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s reimbursements for breakfasts by 15 cents and lunches by 40 cents from rates at the time of the pandemic, Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz said.
Betz noted the district drew down its fund balance by about $1.6 million last school year and anticipates doing so again by $1.8 million to $2 million this year because the district held the line on prices.
Still, board members praised district officials for keeping the increase to a minimum.
“Although it's a bummer that we have to increase because of inflation and proposed minimum wage increases, I just want to commend you for keeping the costs still as low as possible,” Board Member Chad Thompson said, adding that the increase was less than the rate of inflation. “And so the fact that we can keep those low and still make this lunch program work for our school district is commendable.”
Board Member Jill Humpherys underscored the nutritional value offered in the meals.
“Nobody's going to be able to go out and buy a lunch for $4 that has the same nutrition and taste that we're offering in Gilbert Public Schools,” she said.
Nutrition Services Director Natalie Tenney agreed with that assessment.
“If you were to go to the dollar menu or now they're calling it the $5 menu or whatever they would serve at Burger King or something, you wouldn't get as much food for as little money, and the nutrition value would be different," she said. "So even if we were to serve super pretzels, it's not the pretzels you would get at the movie theaters. They're whole grain, whole wheat, reduced sodium, reduced fat.
“We make sure that we have protein at least two servings every offering, whole grains, at least two servings every offering. We offer fresh fruits and vegetables every day at all three levels, and those are unlimited.”
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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