School board holds line

School board holds line

on rental fees, lunches

The Rappahannock School Board took a page from the inflation fighter’s handbook and voted August 12 to hold book rental fees and the cost of a school hinch at last year’s levels.

“It’s an expensive time for so many families when the children are going back to school,” said Chairman Beverly Massie as the board agreed to maintain book rental charges at $22 for kindergarten through third grade, $32 for fourth through seventh grades and $4 per book for high school students. (The schools will be open on August 28, from 2-8 p.m., for payment of book rental fees.)

The board wasn’t quite as eager to follow the cafeteria coordinator’s suggestion for keeping lunch costs at 80 cents at the elementary school, 90 cents at the high school and $1.30 for teachers.

“We encountered difficult times last year in the food service account,” said Superintendent Robert Estabrook, noting that the school lunch program — which is supposed to be self-supporting — was approximately $6,000 in the red and had to be bailed out with a transfer from unexpended funds at the close of the fiscal year.

“That will be a continuing difficulty,” he advised the board. He added, however, that cafeteria coordinator Judy Burke doesn’t recommend raising fees.

“Do you anticipate increased use of commodities?” asked Nancy Reeve. “What’s going to make up the difference (if lunch costs aren’t upped to cover the deficit)?”

“We have no clear indication that there's a way to feasibly do it,” the superintendent replied. Mr. Estabrook recalled that the past three years saw a steady increase in the number of lunches sold but the upsurge leveled off last February. “I don’t think we can continue to expect growth in our school lunch program,” he said, at least not growth enough to counterbalance a $10,000 - $15,000 drop in federal support.

Mrs. Burke has done everything possible to make the food more attractive as well as nutritious, trying to encourage more students to buy lunches, he reported. “She is very, very bothered by this account,” Mr. Estabrook said. “She’ll continue to get readings from the youngsters on what they like, what they’ll eat, but no matter what she does, I don’t think she can make up the ground we lost when the federal dollars were pulled out.”

In agreeing to maintain the current lunch prices, despite an expected deficit in the food program, the board members set November for a second look at the financial picture.

Superintendent Estabrook alerted the board to two areas which will need “policy attention” next month. New regulations call for a hazard communication policy which will identify the location of any hazardous materials in the school buildings, including janitorial supplies and lab chemicals, he explained.

The second policy matter “concerns the whole realm of the high school athletic program,” the superintendent said. “I won’t pull any punches. We had criticism last year that the board is well aware of... I will share my thoughts on that with you next month,” Mr. Estabrook announced, indicating that he will propose an evaluation system for coaches much like that now in place for classroom teachers..

“What’s fair for one should be fair for the other,” agreed Paul Nichols, nodding his head ip approval.

Continued on page 18