Non-district schools opt out of food service program.

So this is where Food Services latched upon the reference to McDonald's. I find it mildly bewildering that the Food Service program is shlepping food to non-district schools when they can't even get their own service delivery problems resolved internally.

The following is an article that appeared in the Edmonds Becon on September 18th, while the rest of us were distracted by cheese sandwiches and Schrammies.

“For that amount you could buy a Happy Meal and get change”

Holy Rosary School in Edmonds has opted out of the school lunch program after being notified the lunch price has gone from $2.75 to $4.40.

School spokesmen say they were notified of the pending increase Aug. 8, which took them by surprise.

“The timing was not good,” says Holy Rosary principal Dr. Kathy Carr. “We can’t afford $4.40 a day for a lunch. For that amount you could buy a Happy Meal (at McDonald’s) and get change.”

St. Thomas More and Pius X schools also bowed out of the Food Services Program, which is administered by Edmonds School District, because of the price increases.

“We’ve been using the National School Lunch Program for 20 to 30 years and never had a problem,” says Holy Rosary principal Carr. “Over that period we always complied with every regulation and were never late with a report.”

The problem, she says, is not just the price but the fact that private schools are charged more to participate in the lunch program than public schools. A lot more.

Holy Rosary is charged $4.40 per lunch while the rate for public schools is $3.25. School officials point out that their students have to pay the middle school price, even though only a small percentage of the students are middle schoolers. Most are elementary students.

The in-district charges are even more dramatic when compared to the same lunches from other local districts.

In the Mukilteo School District, the current lunch price is $2 for elementary students. Middle and high school students pay $2.25.

Trying to rectify the situation has been frustrating for Dr. Carr.

She says the Edmonds School District told her it was out of their jurisdiction.

Calls to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction got the same response.

Calls to Congressman Jay Inslee’s office led to more out of the same – “not our jurisdiction.”

The Beacon’s calls to the Edmonds School District had not been returned by press time.

However, there is general uncertainty about who is in charge of setting the school lunch prices, and no explanation as to why they’re so steep compared to other districts.

“My biggest frustration is that it’s on the backs of the children,” principal Carr says. “It’s taxpayer money. But when I tried to get answers, it was no one’s jurisdiction. They all said the same thing: Nothing can be done.”

Read the entire article in the Edmonds Beacon by clicking here.