NATCHEZ — Like so many individuals, the Natchez-Adams School District has had to deal with the rising cost of food.

In May the district’s board of trustees voted to raise the cost of breakfast and lunch for students who pay for their meals.

For paying students the cost of breakfast will go from .50 cents to $1, for lunch the price will go from $1.25 to $1.75.

But those paying for lunch in the district are in the minority.

The district’s food service supervisor Dan Hogan said approximately 90 percent of the students in the school district get free or reduced lunch.

But Hogan said the rate increase is not enough.

“This increase won’t keep up with the increase in prices,” he said.

Hogan said if paying students were to pay for their lunches a cost that did not create a deficit they would pay between $2.80 to $3.10 for lunch.

And while Hogan said there is no way to operate the lunch program without a deficit his main goal is to minimize that deficit.

“We’re not going to make a profit,” he said. “But we’re trying our best to break even.”

District Superintendent Anthony Morris attributed much of the increase in food costs to escalating fuel prices.

“They’re supposed to operate at cost,” Morris said.

But with costs of food items on the rise and state funded reimbursements for students who get free and reduced lunch, operating at cost is not possible, Hogan said.

Hogan said across the board food costs have gone up an average of 25 percent and with some items up as much as 40 percent.

Hogan said the cost of eggs has gone up almost 45 percent from last year.

To compound problems state reimbursements have only gone up 4 percent.

The state reimburses the district $2.57 for students who receive free school lunch, that’s up .10 cents from last year. The state gives the district for $2.17 for students who get reduced lunch and pay .40 cents for their meals.

For students who actually pay for lunch the state gives the district .25 cents per meal.

However each of those combinations of payment and reimbursement fall short of the estimated $2.80 to $3.10 per meal Hogan said the district needs to collect to break even.

To lessen the blow of ill compensated reimbursements Hogan said the district has to be as cost-conscious as possible.

“We have to watch our dollars very closely,” he said.

Even that if it means monitoring the napkins.

Hogan said one of the ways the district is watching the dollars is by using napkin dispensers instead of leaving stacks of napkins on tables for students to use in hopes they’ll use fewer.

The districts business manager Margaret Parson said of the districts approximately $40 million budget, food service accounts for $2.2 million.

Parson and Hogan both said besides frugal spending there isn’t much the district can do offset the deficit.

Parson said deficits from food services will essentially be absorbed by the school district.

There are currently no plans to make budgetary cuts to compensate for the deficit, Parson said.

But just what that deficit will be is unknown.

Since no one knows how gas will continue to impact food prices, Morris said it’s difficult to predict where prices will go.

“It’s like trying to hit a moving target,” he said.

Hogan also reminded parents who receive free and reduced lunch to fill out their applications before school starts.