Cost of meals to increase in school district

NEW LONDON – The cost of breakfast and lunch for some students in the School District of New London will be increasing for the 2026-27 school year.
The cost increases were approved by the New London Board of Education at its May 26 meeting.
The cost increases were also discussed at the May 13 school board meeting. At that meeting, Joe Marquardt, SDNL business services director, presented a proposed school fees schedule to the board that he said was similar to previous years. Most of the recommended changes in fees revolved around the district’s food service program.
One of the fee changes was a proposed 15 cent increase to 50 cents for extra milk. Marquardt said this was due to the state of Wisconsin changing the way it administers the Wisconsin School Milk Program.
“If you do not collect enough revenues from students who are participating in milk break, they will require us to transfer funds from our general fund to cover the difference,” Marquardt said.

Marquardt added that the cost of milk is currently higher than the 35 cents the district was charging.
“So, it’s not out of line to have the increase,” Marquardt said.
Another fee change included the cost of breakfast. The proposed cost changes included increasing breakfast for K-4th grade students from $1.25 to $1.40; for 5-12 grade students from $1.50 to $1.75.
A third fee change included the cost of lunch. The proposed cost changes included increasing lunch for K-4th grade students from $2.60 to $2.75; for 5-12 grade students from $3 to $3.25.
“The reason for those recommendations is the cost of food has increased significantly over the past couple years, and in order to be able to have a self-supporting food service program, we need to keep pace with those expenditures that are inside the program for our paid students.”
Students who qualify for free meals do not pay for their meals, unless it’s a second meal, Marquardt said. He added that the cost to students who qualify for reduced breakfast and lunch would remain at 30 cents and 40 cents, respectively.
“If we would compare our prices to neighboring school districts, I would say, for the most part, we are on the low end of our cost per meals,” Marquardt said. “And our reason why we have not increased the cost is because we have been exempt from the price equity tool for the last several years.”