Oswego School District 308 families will be paying a bit more for school meals in the new school year.

The district is raising fees for breakfast and lunch to address rising food and labor costs.

“Current pricing remains significantly below the USDA recommended benchmark of $4.16,” District 308 Finance Director Amanda Sitar said during the June 8 Oswego School Board meeting.

Sitar noted that breakfast prices have increased by only 10 cents since 2017 and lunch prices increased by just 10 cents in 2024.

For elementary school students, the cost of a school breakfast will increase to $1.75, up from $1.60. They will pay $3.50 for a student lunch, up from $3.25.

Junior high/high school students will see their student breakfast increase to $2 this fall, up from $1.85. In addition, they will see the cost of a student lunch increase to $3.90, up from $3.65.

“The proposed adjustment is necessary to maintain financial stability of the food service program and offset continuing increases of those food, labor and operating costs,” Sitar said.

Student registration and curriculum fees will stay the same in the new school year.

District 308 students will return to school on Aug. 20.

Collecting on past due fees

Right now, the district is owed more than $5 million in unpaid student fees. Schools are prohibited from withholding students’ grades, transcripts or diplomas because of an unpaid balance on the student’s school account.

“We’re looking at different options in being able to recoup that,” District 308 chief financial officer and chief school business official Raphael Obafemi told school board members.

“We are going to reach out to families and try to get them to set up a payment plan to start making payments on those. If we don’t get the kind of response that we need, then we have to look at other options,” Obafemi said.

District 308 Superintendent Andalib Khelghati said the district is looking at different technologies that could be used to recoup the fees.

“Families are very comfortable these days with new forms of technology,” he said. “We’re very committed to recouping all those funds and ensuring that families have a way to really stand by their investment in our schools.”

Obafemi said families who are eligible for not paying the fees don’t have to worry.

“They’ve gone through the income verification,” he said. “And the same thing applies to reduced fees.”

The district covers about 68 square miles, with students not only from Oswego, but also from Aurora, Joliet, Montgomery, Plainfield and Yorkville.