WASHINGTON — Three area school systems are raising prices for meals.
Price jumps in Prince William County, Prince George’s County and Alexandria City public schools range between five and 20 cents for students not eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.
Families with a child eating both breakfast and lunch in Prince William County Public Schools will pay a total of about $19 more this school year.
PWCPS prices per meal are rising by a nickel for the second time in two years. That makes the cost of a high school lunch there now $2.70, exactly the national average according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
School food services working with the National School Lunch Program are nonprofit, and the feds have a funding formula that sets prices based on how many free or reduced-price meals a school system provides.
In the Prince George’s County public schools, the cost of breakfast increased 10 cents this year, to $1.60 for all grades. Lunch increased 15 cents to $2.75 in elementary school. High school lunches now cost $3.
The biggest area price hike of 20 cents for lunch in Alexandria City Public Schools makes the cost now in elementary schools $2.65. Secondary school lunches will be $2.85. Breakfast costs will remain the same in Alexandria.
In D.C., public school students pay nothing for breakfast, an afterschool snack and afterschool supper meals. Full price DCPS lunches for children pre-K through fifth grades cost $2.10. Students in 6th through 12th grades pay $2.60 for lunch.
The school food business is getting increasingly sophisticated.
In Montgomery County schools, for example, the secondary school “Cafe Menu” lists calorie counts for everything from the Asian chicken and rice bowl (398-432 calories) to rosemary potatoes (100 calories).
In Arlington County, a new interactive website and app allows families to filter out menu items based on dietary restrictions. Other features include nutrition information that’s listed with pictures of every food item.
