New London raises fees by 5 cents
By Bert Lehman
The cost of some school meals will increase by 5 cents in the 2024-25 school year in the New London School District.
The New London School Board approved the increase when it approved the fee schedule for the 2024-25 school year at its April 22 meeting.
Superintendent Scott Bleck said that over the last few years, the district has taken multiple approaches to school fees. This included last year, when the district re-established a “significant amount” of fees to become parT of the district’s annual budget development.
Bleck asked the board to discuss the fees for the 2024-25 school year at the meeting, adding that the fees didn’t need to be approved at the meeting, as that could wait until the next board meeting.
“I think from a standpoint of where we landed this year, we landed in a quality spot to meet the needs, yet still, do our very best to make the best decision in the economical for our students’ families when its appropriate, when it’s our responsibility to support a free and appropriate education for our students,” Bleck said.
Board Clerk Katie Batten asked what the projected enrollment is for the district for the next school year, since that has an impact on the budget.
SDNL Business Services Director Joe Marquardt said the district is projecting to lose 50-75 students from its enrollment.
“But remember your revenue limit is based upon three-year averages,” Marquardt said.
Marquardt added that as the number of students eligible for free and reduced lunch increases slightly, as they have the last few years, the district collects fewer fees from those students because the fees can potentially be waived.
Board President Chris Martinson asked Bleck if there was any reason the board couldn’t approve the fees at this meeting, since there didn’t seem to be anything controversial in the fees.
Bleck said that would be at the discretion of the board.
The fees approved included a 5-cent increase for paid breakfast, paid lunch and paid milk for the 2024-25 school year.
A document provided by the district to the board regarding the proposed fees stated, “Each school district analyzes fees for local impact. There are several differences throughout the region but New London is comparable in most areas. These revenues in the budget are slowly declining because of the decline in students. The district has tried to be very conservative with fees for families.”