Holding the line on lunch

Rising food, labor and delivery costs are straining some Wasatch Front school districts, but most — unlike their national counterparts — won't hike the price of a lunch ticket when school starts this month.

"We really, really are trying to hold the line as much as we can," said Marilyn Clayton, director of nutrition services for Jordan School District, the state's largest with 75,000 students. "I suspect we will go up next year, but if we go up, we'll go up a nickel or a dime."

Meanwhile, Murray School District will increase prices about 5 cents, school board President Darrell Pehrson said. Alpine School District will revisit the issue in November.

"If we can possibly make school lunch self-sustaining without increasing costs, we will do that," spokeswoman Jerrilyn Mortensen said.

But because of higher milk prices, Davis District will increase both the cost of milk and lunch 5 cents.

Dairy prices in June, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were up 27 percent from last year. Meat and cheese were up 11 percent, and poultry was up 9 percent.

Labor costs also are rising with medical insurance premiums, which districts also are scrambling to cover, Clayton said.

But things are getting better, said Debbie Hefner, who oversees food programs in Utah's Ogden School District. Milk prices are dropping to about 14 cents a carton; a few months ago, it cost about 20 cents a carton.

Still, the costs combined are forcing schools nationwide to raise school breakfast and lunch prices. A Galt, Calif., school district broke a 12-year price plateau by tacking $1 onto meals. Some New Hampshire schools are talking about cutting back staff and eliminating breakfast to help make ends meet.

Some Utah school districts are guarding against such drastic measures.

Twelve — Alpine, Box Elder, Carbon, Cache, Emery, Jordan, Logan, Murray, Ogden, Provo, Sevier and Tooele — have banded together as the Utah Cooperative for Acquiring Resources Efficiently, or UCARE.

UCARE's purchasing power helps the districts keep costs down, Clayton said. Members last year also piloted cheese made from less-expensive USDA nonfat dry milk.

Granite School District is serving more meals, which makes the program more efficient, school food services director Bob Ward said.