Some students must pay more for lunch

Higher food prices are being cited for student lunch cost hikes at some Lake County school districts.

Grayslake Elementary District 46 board members this week were the latest to approve new prices for the academic year about to begin. Student lunches will cost an additional 12.5 percent, going from $2 to $2.25.

Board members followed District 46 Superintendent Ellen Correll's recommendation to keep milk at 35 cents per carton and breakfast at $1.

However, it's the increased cost of dairy products that'll be reflected in the overall student lunch price, Correll said. She said the price hike also is necessary to help cover District 46's financial loss from unpaid lunch debts.

"We don't like to have to raise the (lunch) cost," Correll said at a meeting this week, "but we would have to be putting a lot of money out."

Students at Vernon Hills-based Hawthorn Elementary District 73 also will find higher lunch prices this year. Hawthorn's per-lunch fee will be up 10 percent, from $2 to $2.20.

District 73 spokeswoman Lynn Brandl said most lunches are purchased in blocks of 10, meaning the new cost will be $22 instead of $20.

"When they said the price is going to go up, I thought it would be more than this," Brandl said.

Higher wholesale food prices were cited by Hawthorn's provider for the need to boost student lunch costs, she said.

Grade-school lunches typically offer a set menu for the younger students. For example, some District 46 buildings will have a $2.25 lunch of chicken nuggets with potato rounds, cherry juice bar, multigrain honey-wheat pretzels and milk when students are in session Aug. 28.

Carolyn Waller, spokeswoman for Gurnee-based Warren Township High School District 121, said teenagers there get to pick from offerings on an a la carte menu. Warren board members in July approved price increases on several items to students because of higher costs food provider Sodexho Inc. incurred from its suppliers.

Warren students, who are back in session, will pay $2.25 instead of $2 if they want a specialty burger - a 12.5 percent price jump. A 4-ounce pudding cup or gelatin is up 18 percent, from 85 cents to $1.

Several lunch items remain unchanged at Warren. Among them is the deli sandwich on gourmet bread, still priced at $3.