Gwinnett Daily Post

Photo by Brian Giandelone

SUWANEE — Students planning on eating breakfast or lunch at school next year will have to bring an extra quarter with them.

Gwinnett County Public Schools will raise the price of students’ breakfasts and lunches by $0.25 in the 2011-12 year. This will be the first meal price increase since the 2007-08 school year.

Lunch prices will be $2 at the elementary level and $2.25 at middle and high schools. Breakfast will cost $1.25 at all levels. Reduced meal prices will still remain at $0.30 for breakfast and $0.40 for lunch.

Metro Atlanta School Lunch Prices

District Elementary School Middle School High School

Gwinnett $2 $2.25 $2.25

Atlanta $1.75 $2 $2

Clayton $1.20 $1.45 $1.45

Cobb $1.60 $1.75 $1.85

DeKalb $1.75 $1.90 $2

Fosyth $1.90 $2 $2

Source: Gwinnett County Public Schools

Adult meal prices will increase to $1.50 for breakfast but remain at $3 for lunch. The price of milk will remain at $0.40.

Chief Financial Officer Rick Cost said the prices are going up because of increased operating costs and new federal meal pricing mandates.

The school system projects it will serve more than 22.5 million student lunches and nearly 10 million student breakfasts in the upcoming school year.

As of January, 33.9 percent of students ate breakfast at school, and 81.1 percent ate school lunch.