OXFORD, Ohio — The higher prices at the grocery store are trickling into schools as districts across the state are raising school lunch prices.

What You Need To Know

  • School districts are raising school lunch prices because of higher food prices and inflation 

  • In the Talawanda School District in Oxford, school lunch prices went up for the first time in nearly a decade 

  • The district plans to continue to increase prices in small increments until they catch up with the amount they've been losing

Susan Petri is making lunch for hundreds of teenagers, and three of them are her own kids.

“I’ll kind of help out if they want the lunch and if it's they're still hungry, you know, I'll pack them some snacks," Petri said.

It just got even more expensive to feed them.

“Scary, I just worry about those parents that have trouble paying for the kids lunch, you know, I feel for them," Petri said. 

She works at Talawanda High School in Oxford, one of dozens of schools across the region raising school lunch prices.

“The district’s goal is not to make money on breakfast and lunch, the goal is to break even," Talawanda School District spokesperson Holli Hansel said.

Hansel says prices went up 10% to it’s highest at $4.00 a plate this year with plans to continue to increase.

“You’re seeing a little incremental increase this year, you may see that again next year and maybe even over the next few years," Hansel said. 

She says the district is trying to make up for inflation and higher food costs. It's something that put the schools at a $13,000 loss last year.

The higher prices still have students here buying, but some students didn't always have the money to pay for it. 

For Petri, she’s packing her own kids lunch at home more often while still trying to feed teens at school at a higher cost.

“We won't turn a kid away, especially when they're really hungry," Petri said.

Despite higher lunch prices, students who qualify still have the option to get free or reduced lunches.