School meal prices set to rise

What happened

An increase in school meal prices is scheduled for a vote at the August 13, 2026 School Committee meeting, along with the student handbooks and codes of conduct for every grade level. The committee has been discussing school food finances all year: in January it heard about efforts to collect outstanding lunch balances, and in November it looked at a vending machine that would sell hot meals to high school students who do not have time to queue for breakfast. As of the collected record this is a proposal, not a decision.

Why it matters to families

Meal prices are a direct cost to families who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and they change what a lunch costs from the first day of the year.

The evidence

The August 13, 2026 meeting agenda lists item 4.G as 'School Meal Price Increase: Discussion & Vote', alongside the preschool, elementary, middle and high school handbooks and codes of conduct. No minutes for that meeting had been filed with the state when this record was collected, so the outcome and the size of any increase are not established. The January 22, 2026 minutes record the finance office discussing the food service line and efforts to collect outstanding balances, and the November 13, 2025 minutes record the vending machine discussion.

The source