Decatur School Board to Discuss Hiring of 70 New Teachers and Possible Changes to Lunch Prices

Thursday afternoon, Decatur school officials will meet for a special work session to discuss the hiring of teachers over the summer and the costs of school lunches, which may be changing.

School officials say cafeteria food for students is getting healthier and more expensive, due to regulation changes.

“The federal government has changed the serving requirements,” said Dr. Ed Nichols, Superintendent of Decatur Schools.

He is now waiting to hear from the district’s child nutrition supervisor to spell out the new portion sizes, the nutrition of the meals and what it will cost.

“A lot of systems around us have had to raise the cost of their lunches to meet the extra costs that are going to be incurred through the requirements of the federal government,” said Nichols.  “We’re looking at that to see if that’s going to happen to us.”

Morgan County schools increased the costs of school lunches by ten cents across the board for the new year.

Superintendent Bill Hopkins said children will be charged $2.10 per meal and teachers will pay $2.60 per meal, to account for federally mandated changes.

“They’ve also changed the reimbursement costs that they give for free and reduced lunch and so we’re just trying to look at what that impact is,” said Nichols.

He hopes the students will have healthy appetites and happy faces under the supervision of dozens of new teachers across the 20 school buildings in the district.

“We’ve actually picked up some outstanding veteran teachers from surrounding districts,” said Nichols.

He said hiring has been the main focus over the summer months for his staff, reviewing the applications of 1,100 interested people.

District staff conducted 700 pre-screenings for certified teachers and ended up hiring 70.

Nichols says the district has not raised the cost of school lunches in more than 10 years.

Currently, the costs are $1.75 per meal for elementary students and $2 for secondary students.

No changes will be made at Thursday’s work session, but the board is expected to make a recommendation to the superintendent after the meeting.