Wake County school board likely to raise school meal prices once again
Wake County school meal prices will likely go up again in the face of rising costs and reduced demand.
The Wake County school board tentatively agreed Tuesday to raise school meal prices for the upcoming school year. School administrators will present the specific dollar amount for the increase at the June 24 board meeting.
The decision came after school administrators warned Tuesday that action needed to be taken to keep the school meal program self-supporting, as required by federal law.
“We can’t be in the red,” said school board vice chair Tyler Swanson.
Meals not worth the value?
School meal prices have been going up annually in Wake.
A decade ago, a full-price lunch cost Wake students $2 in elementary schools and $2.25 in middle and high schools. Prices are now $1.75 for breakfast and $3.50 for lunch in elementary schools and $2 for breakfast and $3.75 for lunch in middle and high schools.
As prices have gone up, participation rates have gone down in Wake.
It’s at the point now where administrators said that school meal value perception is limited.
Persuading kids to eat healthier foods
The mixed perception also extends to the “smart snacks” that students can buy at schools. Both the snacks and the meals have been subject to federal requirements to become healthier.
Snacks are required to be low fat, low sugar and whole grain.
“It’s not the same thing you can get in a Walmart,” said Tiffany Lawrence, senior director for Child Nutrition Services
The decrease in demand comes as costs have risen for food and labor.
Wake has raised the salaries of its lowest-paid employees, many of whom work in Child Nutrition Services, from a minimum of $15 an hour in 2022 to $17.75 an hour this school year.
How much could meals increase?
Administrators said they need to find ways to raise revenues and cut costs.
This includes getting more students to buy meals and getting more students qualified for the free and reduced-price lunch program. Wake gets reimbursed by the federal government $4.54 for a free student’s meal compared to 53 cents for a student who buys a meal.
Some Wake schools qualify for a federal program where all students get free meals regardless of their income.
Different scenarios were presented Tuesday for raising meal prices. For instance, a 10-cent increase in meals could raise $228,605. At the high end, a $1.50 increase would raise $3.5 million.
In recent years, meal prices have been raised 25 cents. A 25-cent increase would raise $554,612.
School board chair Chris Heagarty asked Lawrence on Tuesday if she was prepared to recommend a specific increase. Lawrence said not at this time
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM.
