The school year started in the Fairbanks North Star Borough Tuesday, along with changes to the school district’s procedure for serving meals to students with insufficient funds.
Last school year, the district allowed unlimited meal charges in its cafeterias, which were paid for by rollover donations from 2023/2024. It was a new practice, and one the district won’t be repeating this school year.
Instead, the procedure for this year permits student accounts to go negative for up to the value of five days of breakfast and lunch meals. That translates to $40 for full-pay elementary students, $42.50 for full-pay secondary students, and $2 for reduced-pay students.
District administration decided on the new procedure as a means of staying in line with the nutrition department's budget as passed by the school board, but it is not a new policy established by the school board.
Superintendent Luke Meinert told the board Tuesday that the unlimited charges meant the district had to cover nearly $80,000 in meal debts from last school year. He says that’s unsustainable.
“It’s important to note that this debt represents only a portion of the broader financial challenges within our Nutritional Services Department and our school district,” he said.
Meinert said inadequate federal reimbursements from the National School Lunch Program short the district between $300,000 and $700,000 annually for meal services.
“Which the district is oftentimes forced to offset using other resources or general revenue funds,” he said.
Multiple board members acknowledged that the renewed limits have fueled concerns locally since the district’s Nutrition Services Department announced the plan.
But they were satisfied with Meinert's explanation, and School Board President Melissa Burnett pledged the district’s students will be fed.
“I know this has raised concern in the community, particularly the perception that students might go without meals. I want to be clear: No child will go hungry in our district,” she said.
Meinert says the district can use other avenues to help ensure kids who hit the new limit don’t go hungry, like going through food pantries. District officials also encourage families to apply for free or reduced meals. The applications can be completed through an online form, or printed, filled out and dropped off with a school’s kitchen manager or at the Nutrition Services office.