To pay for a new landfill, children in the Jerome School District will be paying more for their daily lunches.
The School Board approved charging students five cents more for lunch to help meet a $9,520 fee being charged the district as a landfill fee."Some of those kids can't pay any more, especially if there are more than one in a family. I hate to do this, but there's no other way," said Trustee Ben Neff.
The board had budgeted $4,000 for the landfill fee and were not prepared for the increased charge, Gibson said.
Elementary students will pay $1.05 for lunch starting Feb. 1, secondary school children will pay $1.15 and adult lunches will cost $1.80.
"The school lunch program has always paid for itself and the program does generate the most refuse," Business Manager Mike Gibson told the board. "The only other way would be to move money from the education program."
Gibson and Neff had appealed to Jerome County commissioners for a reduction in the fee that will be used to close the old landfill and build a regional one.