How much does "school lunch" cost?

[flvegan]

Honest question brought on from all the cheese sandwich threads. It's been 21 years since I've had to plunk cash down in a school cafeteria, and I have no children so I'm curious what it costs families these days to get a hot lunch at school for their kid(s). I'm guessing that if parents have 1, 2 or even 3 kids in the school system, it can add up pretty quickly.

I'm also wondering how much if any "profit" advantage to the school there is in the hot lunch program. If there is profit that goes back into the school, then maybe (since there appears to be such an issue with the cheese sandwich thing) that it shouldn't be a profit center.

Again, just curious what DUers (or DUers in the know) pay for school lunch, not looking to rehash or revisit anything involving cheese on bread.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I think the hot lunch is $2.25 here.

[ogneopasno]

2. Our school:

Grades K-3: $2.00
Grades 4-12: $2.25
Adults: $3.75
Reduced: $0.40

Milk: $0.50
Kindergarten Milk (Lunch): $0.50
Kindergarten Milk (Snack): Free

[Duer 157099]

3. I send $3/day with my son

not sure of the exact cost though

[knitter4democracy]

4. It's $1.95 here and an extra dollar for double the entree.

There's no profit, from what I understand, and actually has to be subsidized from the district's budget.

[MissB]

5. $4 to $6 per meal per day

But it is organic and local and fresh with gluten free/vegan/dairy free options.

Too rich for my blood. The kids take PB&J and fruit.

(Our school uses a private contractor though, so the profit part of it is a non-issue.)

[notadmblnd]

6. 3.80 at my son's high school

I imagine it's lower for elementary and middle school. I give him $20 a week for lunch, so he has money for an extra drink too.

[Redbear]

7. 3.50 at my kid's school

It's probably more expensive than others because it's a small school and they can't do as much bulk buying.

[azurnoir]

8. Our school system has it listed on their website

and you can see that if you have 3 kids in school it can cost close to $100 a month

http://www.sppscafe.org/Fees.html

[AlCzervik]

9. this is directly from our districts webs site

Elementary lunch: $2.25
Elementary breakfast: $1.25

Middle and high school lunch: $2.75
Middle and high school breakfast: $1.50

Free meals are available at all schools for students who qualify based on family income. For more information regarding the free meal program, please call

[dropkickpa]

10. Free at my daughter's school and 40 others

Inner city public school district, too. Eat that one Albuquerque.

[Fresh_Start]

11. $3-5 for middle school

not counting milk (a real bargain at $.25 for lowfat or $.50 for chocolate)

For some lunches the children can buy larger entrees. For example, 1, 2 or 3 slices of Pizza.
Middle school boys can have large appetites.

[gollygee]

12. $1.80 here n/t

[ejpoeta]

13. we qualify for reduced lunches (just barely) so it costs a quarter

for my daughter. but generally i think it's 1.25. i've never had them give her anything but the regular lunch. I send in $10 at a time and don't know when emy gets things she shouldn't and I've had notes come home that we owe as much as $6 before!! But they have never not let her get lunch because of it. Though i always send in more money when they do that. and it's not that bad because we only have to pay 25 cents.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. $0.35 with milk.

Oh wait, that was like 1960.

[noamnety]

15. profit? Are you kidding?

Our school was losing $20k a year on it when we had a lunch program, we had to cancel it entirely because we just couldn't afford it.