Small increase for lunch items

At its last Board of Education meeting on June 19, the Oceanside School District announced small increases to some of it’s a la carte lunch menu items.

All of the prices for lunch are staying the same in all of the district’s schools ($2.50 in the elementary schools, $2.60 in the middle school and $2.75 in the high school). But many of the a la carte items — things like milk, ice cream and other snacks and drinks — are increasing next year by five cents.

“The vendors are passing costs on to us,” said Louis Frontario, the assistant superintendent for business, saying that higher transportation costs were usually the culprit. “So when those costs are increased to us, we have to pass them on. Because we’re trying to make sure that the program is completely self sustaining.”

Frontario explained that the district’s lunch program is entirely self sustaining. “Not a nickel is taxpayer money,” Frontario said.

“There are some school districts that have to transfer $30,000 or $40,000 to keep their programs afloat or because of various decisions they may have made,” he continued. “But we’ve been a self-sufficient, self-operated program before I got here, and I’m only too proud to say we’ve made it stronger. It stands on its own merit.”