ROGERS -- Students will pay a little more for lunch when they go back to school this fall.
The School Board on Tuesday approved increasing lunch prices five cents at the elementary and middle school levels and 20 cents at the high schools.
Rogers Schools Fundraising
The Rogers School Board received a report on fundraising activities throughout the School District during the 2014-15 school year by PTOs, PTAs and athletic booster clubs. Here are the amounts each school reported raising and spending.
SchoolRaisedSpent
Bellview Elementary$27,605$32,759
Janie Darr Elementary$19,565$17,839
Eastside Elementary$11,669$5,282
Garfield Elementary$16,983$5,506
Bonnie Grimes Elementary$8,582$6,017
Grace Hill Elementary$8,131$5,581
Russell Jones Elementary$6,914$4,506
Lowell Elementary$28,513$24,384
Joe Mathias Elementary$18,444$15,163
Northside Elementary$15,636$12,474
Old Wire Elementary$2,237$0
Reagan Elementary$7,000$7,000
Tillery Elementary$32,181$27,020
Tucker Elementary$6,329$3,216
Westside Elementary$11,134$6,305
Elmwood Middle$24,906416,597
Kirksey Middle$13,386$12,426
Lingle Middle$17,916$17,153
Oakdale Middle$11,501$3,878
Heritage High$68,064$48,775
New Tech High$10,682$8,257
Rogers High$66,370$45,474
HHS Athletic Boosters$129,327$95,076
RHS Athletic Boosters$49,518$44,188
Total$483,776$464,876
Source: Rogers Public Schools
Lunch prices will be $2.25 at the elementary schools, $2.75 at the middle schools and $2.90 at the high schools with the changes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to provide the same support for lunches served to students not eligible for free or reduced-price lunches as they are for lunches served to students eligible for free lunches.
Based on the paid lunch equity rule, Rogers School District must raise its weighted average lunch price 10 cents to $2.60.
That can be accomplished however the district deems fit, said Margie Bowers, the district's child nutrition director.
Bowers recommended a higher increase at the high schools because the overall impact on the number of students is only 36 percent of all paid meals.
In addition, high school meals cost anywhere from 50 to 65 cents more to prepare than at the elementary and middle schools, Bowers said. That's because the meal pattern requirements for a high school lunch are greater for meat, fruits, vegetables and grains, she said.
"We would like not to go up at all. But this is a requirement from the USDA. We really don't have a choice," she said.
Breakfast prices will remain the same at $1.25 across the board, Bowers said. Ten elementary schools are part of the Breakfast in the Classroom program, which provides free breakfasts to all students. That program encourages kids to get to school on time and allows them to enjoy a healthy breakfast so they'll be better able to concentrate on their work each morning.
In other business, athletic director Mark Holderbaum gave a year-in-review report on the high school and middle school athletic teams.
Total participation in sports programs was 2,470 for the 2014-15 school year, a decrease of about 100 kids from the year before, Holderbaum said. That number included 1,143 girls and 1,327 boys.
The district earned state titles in boys cross country and wrestling, both at Rogers High School. Nine teams finished in the final four of their respective sports in the state.
Holderbaum said he was proud to announce district athletes earned a grade point average of 3.37.
"That really emphasizes we have some wonderful student-athletes," he said.
The team with the best academic performance was Elmwood Middle School's girls basketball team, which had a 3.92 grade point average, according to Holderbaum's report.
Holderbaum also reported new things coming next school year, including a new public address system and scoreboard at Heritage High School's Gates Stadium. A new scoreboard also is being installed at Rogers High's King Arena this summer.
NW News on 06/17/2015