Several elements of the food services within the Warren County R-III School District were discussed during the Aug. 10 regular board meeting.Among those were the approval of new lunch prices for staff, following further explanation from Food Services Director Deb Linke.Discussion about the adult lunch prices was tabled at the July meeting when the new student meal prices were approved. Concern and questions arose over the increase of the adult prices to $3.55.Linke explains that two factors in particular impact the pricing of adult meals.“The National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program are both federally subsidized programs but are subsidized just for the benefit of the students,” said Linke.These programs are subsidized two different ways through federal reimbursement and the value of donated commodities. For every student lunch served by the district, a 38 cent federal reimbursement is received.“This is only received for a paid student meal and not for any adult meals,” said Linke.“So this needs to be taken into account when setting our adult prices.”The USDA also sets a “per student lunch” value, considered to be the monetary value of commodities in each student lunch served during the school year. For the fiscal year this value has been set at 32 cents.The combination of the two reimbursements means the district receives 70 cents in subsidies for each student meal that does not apply to the adult meals.Linke says this explains the discrepancy between the highest paid student meal prices of $2.85 and the adult price of $3.55.In addition to those full-price meals, the district also has students receiving free and reduced lunch services.For the 2017-18 school year, 54 percent of students are eligible for lunch assistance, with the highest number being at Rebecca Boone Elementary.School Lunch