Durango school meal fees to increase

Before the Durango School District 9-R board got down to the business of discussing meal fees at its meeting Tuesday night, board members accepted art from students at each of the district’s 11 schools to hang in the boardroom. Sunnyside Elementary School first-grader Ezra Kinnebrew and his teacher Jennifer Smith talked about his “Inspiration from Friends,” which board member Stephanie Moran is holding. Ezra likes art “because it doesn’t have any rules.”

Courtesy of Durango School District 9-R

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Before the Durango School District 9-R board got down to the business of discussing meal fees at its meeting Tuesday night, board members accepted art from students at each of the district’s 11 schools to hang in the boardroom. Sunnyside Elementary School first-grader Ezra Kinnebrew and his teacher Jennifer Smith talked about his “Inspiration from Friends,” which board member Stephanie Moran is holding. Ezra likes art “because it doesn’t have any rules.”

Courtesy of Durango School District 9-R

After an audit by the federal government, Durango School District 9-R is increasing its meal fees for the 2016-2017 school year.

“The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) said reimbursement for free and reduced meals could not be used to supplement the paid meals,” said Dan Snowberger, 9-R superintendent. “And we didn’t raise meal fees this year.”

The increases will not affect the more than 30 percent of 9-R students who qualify for free and reduced meals.

Lunches will increase in price by 10 cents for elementary, middle and high school students, bringing their fees, respectively, to $2.65, $2.80 and $3.10.

Breakfast is only served at elementary and middle school cafeterias. Breakfast at elementary school will go up 15 cents to $1.25. Middle-schoolers can start their day with breakfast for $1.50, up a quarter from this year.

The increase was calculated using the USDA’s Paid Lunch Equity Tool based on the number of meals served to students in October.

“The net change meets the recommended increase for compliance by the USDA,” Snowberger told the 9-R board of education, which approved the increase without much discussion Tuesday night.

abutler@durangoherald.com