Colfax school district lunch prices to stay the same for 2018-2019

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  — Lunch prices in the Colfax school district will remain the same for the 2018-2019 school year.

The school district has done well with the lunch program over the past few years, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, at the Colfax Board of Education’s May 21 meeting.

The food service fund has a positive balance, so the school district is not required to raise the lunch prices, Yingst said, adding that he was recommending not changing the prices.

If the school district food service fund were losing money, then the district would be required by federal law to increase the prices, Yingst said.

When a school district must raise the lunch prices, the increase can only be 10 cents per year, he noted.

According to information provided to the school board, the price for a four-year-old kindergarten lunch is $1.25 per day; the price for kindergarten through fifth grade is $2.60 per day; and the price for sixth grade through twelfth grade is $2.75 per day.

Based on 174 school days in the year, the annual cost for an elementary student is $452.40, while the annual cost for middle school and high school students is $478.50.

The cost for staff/adults is $3.75 per day.

The cost of a breakfast snack for grades kindergarten through twelfth grade is $1.25 per day.

Ala carte prices are $1.75 for a salad, $1 for an entree, and 35 cents for additional milk.

The school district provides 5,766 paid lunches per month, with 3,342 lunches for grades six through 12, and 2,424 lunches for grades kindergarten through fifth.

The food service budget had a beginning fund balance in the 2017-2018 school year of $138,386.75 and a projected ending balance of $175,960.84.

The 2017-2018 budget contained $412,871 in revenue and $375,296.91 in expenditures.

The Colfax Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the recommendation from Yingst to not increase the lunch prices.

Other business

In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:

• Approved a list of summer school staff for the 2018 Colfax summer school program. The summer school session for kindergarten through eighth grade will run June 18 to June 29. In addition to the regular classes in the elementary school, Megan Pawlak will teach creatives arts for grades four to six, and Courtney Doucette and Joe Doucette will be teaching recreational activities for grades four to six. Sarah Yingst will teach a dance class for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Kirk Secraw and Linda Boehm will teacher computers for grades four to eight, while Megan Pawlak and Kassandra Behymer will teach Young Authors, and Kristi Winings will teach Amazing Ancient Egypt. Ryan Krall will teach morning and afternoon golf sessions at Whitetail Golf Course. Summer Saunters will be held July 9 through July 13 on the Ice Age Trail with Suzy Blomberg, Joe Doucette, Nancy Hovde, Sarah Yingst, Kirk Secraw and Trevor Hovde. Registration for summer school was open until May 29.

• Approved a list of staff for 2018 Colfax summer swimming program: Ally Heidorn (instructor/coordinator); Madison Rood (instructor); Ellen Nold (instructor); Gwen Nold (instructor); Tucker Hovde (aide); Jacob Jensen (locker room supervisor); Vicki Moore (bus aide). Two additional swimming instructors also will be needed.

• Approved open enrollment applications of 16 students into the district and 52 students out of the district. Students can apply for open enrollment in up to three school districts. The school board must give approval on the “numbers we have,” Yingst said. The final total will not be known until after the third Friday in September count is completed, he said.

• Approved the 2018-2019 student accident insurance renewal with Student Assurance Services. The insurance covers interscholastic sports coverage, and the cost is the same as last year at $6,000 for middle school and high school coverage. Yingst said he recommends families take the insurance as well because the school district’s insurance does not pay for an injury on the playground, for example.

• Approved Security Health Plan as the health insurance carrier for the 2018-2019 school year. Security Health Plan is part of the insurance cooperative, and the school board has already approved participation in the cooperative, Yingst said.

• Approved Delta Dental as the dental insurance carrier for the 2018-2019 school year. The district has had Delta Dental for several years, and the company provides good service at a reasonable price, Yingst said.

• Approved Dean Foods as the milk vendor and Earthgrains as the bread vendor for the 2018-2019 school year through CESA 11’s food service bidding process. Milk prices have decreased slightly for the 2018-2019 school year. White milk (one percent) will be 15.42 cents per eight ounces, compared to 16.38 cents last year. White skim milk will be 14.10 cents, compared to 15.15 cents last year. Fat free chocolate milk will be 14.99 cents, compared to 16.13 cents last year. Bread prices will remain the same as last year at $3.22 for a 24-count package of whole grain steak buns; $3.15 for 30-count packages of whole grain coney buns; and $2.95 for a 30-count package of whole grain hamburger buns.

• Approved budget adjustments for the 2017-2018 school year. The amount of state aid is not known until the middle of October. Adjustments included an addition of $33,057 to the general fund; an addition of $30,698 to revenue; a subtraction of $20,326 for the revenues and expenditures in the special project funds; a subtraction of $13,071 in the ending fund balance of the capital projects fund; an addition of $22,599 to the ending fund balance of the food service fund, a subtraction of $5,129 in food service fund revenue and a subtraction of $27,728 in the food service expenditures; an addition of $94,878 in the gross total expenditures, a subtraction of $51,529 in inter-fund transfers, and an addition of $146,408 in the net total expenditures.

• Discussed staffing options and classroom numbers for the 2018-2019 school year. The high school is expected to have 67 students in grade 12; 76 students in grade 11; 57 students in grade 10; and 50 students in grade 9. The middle school is expected to have 51 students in grade 8 (2 sections with 25 students) and 66 students in grade 7 (three sections with 22 students). Tim Devine is retiring from middle school language arts, and Lori Halpin has expressed a desire to return to teaching middle school language arts, which will leave a section of sixth grade open, Yingst said.

• Approved hiring Emily Mattson as a high school English teacher. Mattson was a student teacher at Colfax High School from January until March of this year.