Paid lunches to resume at GCSC

The end of a federal program means K-12 students will again have to pay for school lunches during the 2022-23 school year.

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing through the end of the 2021-22 school year, Congress authorized the United State Department of Agriculture to grant waivers that allowed all K-12 students to get free school breakfasts and lunches, rather than only those eligible for free and reduced lunches.

With the program at an end, the Greencastle School Board approved the following lunch and breakfast prices for the coming year, which begins Wednesday.

Lunch

Middle and high school: $3.10

Elementary: $3

Reduced: $0.40.

Breakfast

All schools: $1.85

Reduced: $0.30

Adult

Lunch: $4.60

Breakfast: $2.50

In a letter recommending the price to Supt. Jeff Gibboney, Food Service Director Debbie Carrico said that the prices revert to the 2020-21 school year. While food prices are currently up, Carrico also noted that Congress recently passed a bill for the USDA to increase reimbursement rates to schools.

“Food prices are on the rise, but with this increase I feel confident that foodservice will sustain through the crisis,” Carrico wrote.

Gibboney, in turn, recommended the prices to the board, and they passed unanimously.