Schools Get A Lesson in Lunch Line Economics

The average cost of preparing and serving a school lunch runs from about $2.70 to $3.10, according to the School Nutrition Association.

In some places, food service budgets are dipping into the red, requiring schools to use general funds that pay for such expenses as teacher salaries, computers and busing. The operating budgets that provide those general funds are also under heavy pressure because of lower state and local tax revenues. In Arlington County, the School Board kicked in about $150,000 to food services last year, and officials predict about the same will be needed this year.

Kathy Lazor, food and nutrition director for Montgomery schools, said she expects the extra dollars spent on milk will eat up about $200,000 in profit from last school year.

"We knew we were going to have a slight increase in milk . We didn't expect the 23 percent," she said. "We're going to more than likely come in with a slight loss this year."

The food service program in D.C. public schools lost $30 million in three years, partly because the system has not filed paperwork needed to get federal reimbursement for students receiving free and reduced-price meals. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said she wants a private contractor to take over cafeterias and provide tastier and more nutritious meals.

School food chiefs across the country said they are cutting costs in much the same way that at-home chefs clip coupons and scan supermarket aisles for sales. They are seeking to keep healthy items on the menu but are increasingly picky about choosing the most economical options. Several said vendors have warned that prices will be even higher within months.

Fairfax schools, for instance, serve oranges -- 14 cents each -- instead of grapes, which are a quarter a serving. "We're all in the same boat," food and nutrition director Penny McConnell said. "When you go to the grocery store, you see your basket is filled up with fewer items and the bill is the same."

Schools are trying to boost profits by serving popular items that sell better. Richmond schools stopped offering seafood baskets, which cost schools 60 cents, because students weren't lining up for them. Students prefer chicken nuggets, which cost about a quarter a serving.

Tess Enright, 9, a third-grader at Montgomery's Rock View Elementary, is just the kind of customer schools seek. She studies the menu at home and decides whether to pack a sandwich or buy a school lunch. One afternoon last week, chicken nuggets and chocolate milk drew her into the lunch line.

"I can buy two times a week and bring three times," Enright said.

Cindy Hobbs, director of child nutrition services for Charlotte-Mecklenburg County schools in North Carolina, said she has swapped spaghetti for lasagna because she knows more students buy lunch on spaghetti day. Plus, she said, "you get a better price if you buy more of one product."

Small, rural districts, which don't serve enough meals to court competitive bids from suppliers, might be squeezed the most. The 12 schools in Davie County used to offer fresh fruit three or four times a week. Now it's twice weekly. To boost snack revenue, the schools returned a full-fat cookie to the snack line.

But big districts also are feeling the pinch. In the New York school system, the nation's largest, which serves 850,000 meals a day, the milk bill is up $3 million over last year, said Eric Goldstein, chief executive for school support services.

To help make up difference, the "vegetable medley will be less of a medley," he said. Sliced tomatoes have replaced their more expensive cousins, grape tomatoes, on the salad bar. Pizza topped with turkey pepperoni is served less often.

"We're seeing our food cost growing at a rate that is putting pressure on our budget. Increases in corn, wheat, milk -- it's really hitting us," Goldstein said. "We're having to be creative, but we're worried it's not sustainable."