VB schools may raise school meal prices

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The budget process was a difficult one for school boards across Hampton Roads, as shrinking budgets and growing classes forced administrators to find ways to save money. Now, the Virginia Beach school board has a new financial puzzle to solve: the rising cost of food.

Chairman of the School Board Dan Edwards said Virginia Beach schools have not changed the price of breakfast in nine years and the price of lunch in a few years. So the schools will consider raising the price of meals by fifteen cents. The administration projects the increase will add nearly $196,000 to the food services fund.

"We get federal funding which comes in for the free and reduced lunch," said Edwards, "but beyond that what we take in is what we have to pay out and it has to be balanced out."

Edwards said part of the cost will pay for more expensive, healthier foods. State and federal education authorities are pushing for more nutritious meals as a way of keeping students healther.

The school board will discuss the measure again at its next school board meeting.