School Board approves meal price increases

By: 
Stormy Jameson

The Big Horn County School District #2 board met on July 8 for their regular monthly board meeting.

During the meeting, the members of the school board approved the increase of school breakfast meals by 30 cents and lunches by 35 cents each.

That change will now cost students $2.00 per breakfast instead of $1.70 and $3.00 at lunch from the previous $2.65.

“In a nutshell, we’ve had to transfer a significant amount of money from our general fund to minimally cover expenses for our food service,” Superintendent Doug Hazen reported.

“It doesn’t put us at the top of the county, but somewhere in the middle with the increase.”

During the discussion, business manager Lane Black-Partridge said, “We are catching up. We have tried to not increase the cost for several years, and we are well behind the need financially.”

Hazen commented that the district is trying to be thoughtful to families and how it affects them, but on the flip side, it is well-known that the cost of items have gone up fairly significantly and the schools are not insulated from that, so this is the reaction.

“It breaks my heart to have to do this kind of stuff,” school board member Rebecca Moncur stated.

OTHER NEWS

In other business, the 2025 fiscal year budget was approved on third and final reading, and both Cindy Hinkley and Chauna Bischoff were recognized for their years of service and retirement from the district.

For food service, in the month of June the summer meal program served 12,985 breakfasts and 13,135 lunches to bring in a little over $107,000.

“This isn’t something we have to do,” Hazen said. “We’re as a district choosing to do it, because we think it is good for the community and it is helpful to us as a district because we are getting funds from it. It takes a ton of hard work from Rose Rusch and her staff.”

In the superintendent’s report, Hazen noted that Midway Construction was hoping to pour the mow curb around the track in the coming week and then begin paving immediately following that due to a waiting period for the asphalt to cure before the new surface can be applied.

Painting and new carpet projects are continuing at both Lovell Middle School and Elementary School.

Policy CHD passed on second and final reading in old business, and the motion passed to reauthorize the 1 mill Lovell Recreation District levy, 1/2-mill Northwest College BOCES levy and 1/2-mill Northwest College adult education levy for the 2024-25 school year.

The updated district salary schedules for classified staff and for administrators, directors and non-teaching employees also passed.

There were no resignations this meeting, but Janeen Blackburn was accepted as the new high school custodian and Joeson (JR) Prosser as LES custodian.

Jen Hessenthaler has been selected as the high school junior varsity girls basketball coach with Gretchen Walker as the girls freshmen basketball coach under recently appointed head coach Brian May.

The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. with the next monthly board meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m.

 

Category: