Northwest R-1 parents won’t see a price hike for student lunches this school year, although breakfast won’t be provided for free anymore.
The Northwest Board of Education agreed July 18 not to increase the cost of lunches at the district’s elementary and secondary schools for the 2024-2025 school year.
The price for breakfast will be $1.90 at all schools, and lunch prices will be $2.70 at the district’s six elementary schools and $2.85 at its two middle schools and high school.
“It is shocking how low we are compared to other districts around the county,” Board president Mary Thomasson said.
The board decided against raising lunch prices because the district’s Breakfast in the Classroom program will end. That program had provided breakfast to elementary school students at no charge, said Jennifer Younkins, director of administrative services.
The program is no longer sustainable due to increasing costs for food, supplies, personnel and equipment, Younkins told the school board.
“In May, we notified our families that the program has concluded and that breakfast will transition to a paid program,” she said.
Breakfast in the Classroom was introduced in the 2020-2021 school year to help students adjust as they returned to the classroom after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district implemented a 20-cent increase in meal prices for the 2023-2024 school year, which also factored into the decision to keep meal prices the same as last school year, Younkins said.
About 39 percent of Northwest students participate in the Free and Reduced Price Meals program. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education administers the National School Lunch program, as well as other USDA child nutrition programs. Eligibility is tied to household size and income.
Board approves more bids for bond issue projects
Also at its July 18 meeting, the school board approved four projects to be funded with revenue from the $28 million bond issue district voters approved in April 2023.
S.M. Wilson & Co. of St. Louis is the construction manager overseeing the projects, which include driveway entrance improvements at Brennan Woods Elementary School in High Ridge and Maple Grove Elementary School in Dittmer; storm shelter walls for a new gymnasium at House Springs Elementary School; and glass windows and glazing for the new field house being built at Northwest High School in Cedar Hill.
The board agreed to spend $321,162 for Brennan Woods Elementary and $275,623 for Maple Grove Elementary to improve the driveway entrances to help ease congestion at the schools. Subcontractors for the projects are Bommarito Construction of Fenton, Accurate Paving of Fenton, and Right Way Traffic Control Inc. of Freeburg, Ill. Next Level Construction of St. Louis will provide concrete at Maple Grove. The entrances are expected to be completed this fall.
Construction of a new 8,480-square-foot gymnasium at House Springs Elementary will begin with storm shelter walls that are being made and installed by Coreslab Structures of St. Louis. The board approved $1.04 million for this first phase of the construction. The total cost of the gymnasium is not yet known, though the construction is expected to be completed in September 2025. House Springs Elementary currently has a small unattached gymnasium that is not air-conditioned.
The board agreed to spend $103,081 for 19 windows and glazing that will be installed at the new two-story field house addition underway at Northwest High School. Bid requests for the windows went out a second time, bringing the project to a total of $184,329. The board previously approved $81,328 for windows. All About Glass of St. Louis is the subcontractor. The addition is expected to be completed in July 2025.
In July, Northwest School District employees donated $1,485 to the Homeless Youth Initiative through the Northwest Way charitable program. The Homeless Youth Initiative supports 15- to 20-year-olds who do not live with their families by helping them become self-sufficient and live independently.