The Newtown Board of Education (BOE) voted on increasing the price for public school lunches and on the contract renewal for the district’s meal provider, Whitsons, during its public meeting at the Municipal Center on the evening of April 9.

Members of Whitsons were present at the meeting to give their annual report and explain why it is necessary to increase school lunch prices at this time in the elementary schools, Reed Intermediate School, Newtown Middle School, and Newtown High School.

John Prunier, Whitsons district manager, started off the presentation by introducing his new team accompanying him at the meeting, which included Joseph Stango, Newtown director of food services; Nicole Demers, Newtown resident chef; and Brianna Theus, Newtown resident dietitian.

Mr Prunier said that prior to this presentation, he had met with the Finance Sub-Committee for the company’s financial overview and budget. It was determined a price increase of 25 cents per meal should be implemented.

“We talked about the number of pricing scenarios that would get us through… not only one year but two years,” Mr Prunier said of the proposition to increase meal prices.

Whitsons started supplying breakfast and lunch programs to Newtown in 2016. The last meal price increase of 25 cents for Newtown Public Schools was made effective for the 2015-16 school year and before that there was a 10-cent meal increase for the 2012-13 school year.

The current meal pricing has been in place for the last four consecutive years with the elementary school students paying $2.85, Reed Intermediate and Middle School students paying $3.10, Newtown High School students paying $3.35, and breakfast offered at $2.20.

The recommended meal pricing for the 2019-20 school year, with the 25-cent increase added, would be $3.10 at the elementary schools, $3.35 at Reed Intermediate and Middle School, $3.60 at Newtown High, and $2.45 for breakfast.

BOE and Finance Sub-Committee member Debbie Leidlein said, “We know that Whitsons in the past has always been responsive to suggestions and requests that the Board has made, and they have looked into improving the service and the product on a regular basis.”

When the BOE put the proposal of a 25-cent increase to a vote, it was approved unanimously.

Additionally, the one-year contract renewal for Whitsons was approved by the BOE unanimously.

For more information about the Newtown Board of Education’s upcoming meetings and to contact its members, visit newtown-ct.gov/board-education.

For the full length article, see the April 12 print edition of the paper. Subscribe at newtownbee.com.