Lunch been an ongoing concern for Riverside-Brookfield High School junior Finn Scatchell, so much so that he addressed the District 208 board of education Oct. 13.
“I come today with concerns regarding our lunch program with Quest Foods,” Scatchell told the board. “As of right now, a basic meal costs around $6 in our cafeteria. Food prices have been rising along with the reduction of portion sizes.”
But there was a larger issue, he said.
“I was also trying to end the denial of lunch, along with the stigmatization of students by cashiers (for) low account balances,” he told the board, adding that has been partially addressed with assistant principal of student affairs Dave Mannon.
“The new policy is that cashiers will be retrained to not discuss account balances with students and not deny lunches to students,” he said.
Assistant Supt. Kristin Smetana said a student is able to swipe to purchase lunch with a debit built into their school ID card.
She said if a student has a debt higher than $10, an alert is placed on the account and the student is referred to student deans Cara Weinberg or Alberto Jaquez. In turn, they reach out to the student’s parents to add money to their account.
But students can still get something to eat even if they have a negative balance, and thanks to the recently adjusted policy through Scatchell’s advocacy, cashiers don’t discuss that with students.
But the lunch cost and portion size is a different issue.
The district is in the middle of a five-year contract for lunch services with Quest Food Management Services. The contract expires in 2028. She said Quest determines lunch costs, and Smetana said the district can’t request that firm reduce prices.
In other words, it’s not that simple.
“They present to us every year their proposed increases and we have the opportunity to review and discuss with Quest,” she said. “I can’t say, ‘You have to cut prices a dollar.’ It’s a contracted service for the district.”
Scatchell noted in his address to the board that he organized a petition this fall and received more than 160 signatures, along with dozens of comments, some of which he read.
“I think that society has made it a norm to make a basic need to cost so much,’ said a current student. “I think even if people have more money, (they) shouldn’t have to still pay an outstanding price for something. A salad is six dollars! That’s crazy! And every time I have to get more money on my cared, I feel bad for eating.”
Smetana countered by saying that while the district could opt in to the federal National School Program, that would create its own issues.
“We would have to meet Illinois State Board of Education guidelines related to nutrition that aligns to federal dietary guidelines,” she said. That means offerings would be much different; all snacks would have to be baked, and the current coffee bar would be sugar-free.
“The cafeteria offerings would be very different and I don’t think the cost savings would be significant,” she said. “We’d still have to cover the cost for Quest – food costs, the cost of Quest’s (operation). The majority of schools lose revenue because of it.”