Abby raises meal, milk prices
The Abbotsford school board approved a hike in meal prices of $0.10/meal and $0.05/milk carton at its meeting on Monday, May 15.
District Administrator Ryan Bargender noted the board could go back and lower the price of meals at a later date if needed.
The bids for milk prices came in higher than in previous years, however, Weber’s Farm Store provided the lowest bid. Weber’s is a company out of Marshfield.
The board decided that next school year, the district will be going with Weber’s Farm as opposed to Prairie Farms milk. The milk will come in plastic pouches as opposed to the cartons that students have received in the past.
CEP discussion
Bargender said the increase in meal prices might not matter if the district is able to qualify for Community Eligibility Provision.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.
Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
If the district qualifies for the program, it would end up achieving free meals for all students for four years. After four years, the district would have to re-qualify for the program.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, some of the benefits of the program include:
n Lunch and breakfast are served free to all students in participating schools.
n No household applications for free and reduced-price meals are collected.
n No verification of free and reducedprice meals applications is required.
n There is potential for increased meal participation rates, especially breakfast.
n The program simplifies the counting and claiming process by not having to track meals by free, reduced-price and paid categories.
To qualify, the district must have over 40 percent of its students qualify for free lunch.
The school board also decided to quit claim to a section of land west of Red Arrow Park in order to allow for legal access to a home on North Fifth Avenue. The board was approached by Jenny Jakel who said she had spent a lot of time and money on trying to correct a clerical asterisk that was preventing an Abbotsford family from reaching their home without an easement.
Jakel said in 2019, the board passed an easement to allow the use of the driveway for the family but she said it was time to get the correction done while the original owners were still alive.
The board approved a motion to quit claims to the property, effectively turning it over to Jakel.
n The board approved the addition of 1.5 hours to the art teacher position for the elementary school. Previously, the district had been having the middle/ high school art teacher teach some of the elementary school art classes while a part time elementary school art teacher taught a majority of the classes in the elementary school. Bargender said the new structure would allow the middle/ high school teacher to focus on just those classes while adding some time to the elementary position. n The board installed its officers as follows: Eric Reis - President and WASB primary delegate, Gary Schraufnagel Vice President, Jim Hirsch - Clerk and WASB alternate, Eric Brodhagen - Treasurer and CESA 10 primary delegate and Kraig Schindler CESA 10 alternate.
