The school system is trying to make the food service program self-sufficient.
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

JAY – School Committee members voted Thursday to increase full pay lunches by 25 cents at the middle and high schools. The board also voted to charge Middle School students for breakfast.

The board also approved salary agreements for noncontract personnel and accepted resignations and a retirement.

Full-pay lunch prices were set at $1.50 at the elementary school and $1.75 at the high school. Anticipated increase in revenue by raising lunch prices at those schools would be approximately $12,000 per year, Superintendent Robert E. Wall said.

The increase was needed, Wall said, because of rising costs of health insurance and other expenses. The school system is working at trying to make the food service program self-sufficient, he said.

“We don’t feel the impact is going to be a hardship,” he said. It also may be an incentive for those eligible for free and reduced lunches to fill out the forms. The system receives more reimbursement for those qualifying for the free and reduced lunches, he said.

The middle school full-pay lunch price also remained the same at $1.50 because the cost is already set at state maximum, Wall said. Reduced lunches at all three schools remained at 40 cents. Milk also remained the same at 30 cents.

The school had offered free breakfast to students at the middle school in the past, but the school no longer meets the criteria for that option. Free breakfast remains in place at the elementary school.

The board approved students paying 60 cents for a full-pay breakfast and 30 cents for those qualifying for reduced breakfast at the middle school. High school breakfast remained the same at 75 cents for full-pay and 30 cents for reduced.

In other business, the board approved 2.5 percent 2003-04 salary increases for Food Service Director Brenda Adams at $41,923.53 and Transportation/Maintenance Supervisor Sue Weston at $39,738.23. Hourly wages for a mechanic increased from $15.90 to $16.30, for central office business secretary from $13.75 to $14.09 and for special services secretary from $12.21 to $12.70.

The committee also accepted immediate resignations from Kaley Fore, fifth/sixth grade science teacher who is moving out of state; Brenda Burnell, Reading Recovery teacher; and Heidi Goodwin, literacy specialist.

Carroll Page’s retirement notice effective Sept. 1 was also accepted.

dperry@sunjournal.com