Lunch money, lines of credit and school board time tables are among the docket items at Austin Public School’s Monday board meeting.

Board members will decide whether to raise the cost of breakfast and lunch in Austin Public Schools Monday. The increases of 5 cents for breakfast and 10 cents for lunch come in the wake of the federal reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, also known as the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. Schools are mandated to use more fresh fruits and vegetables as well as providing a snack option for elementary school students during the day.

“People need to understand that there’s a tradeoff,” said Mark Stotts, the district’s finance and operations director. “If you’re going to go with fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, there is going to be a higher costs.”

The proposed measure wouldn’t affect free and reduced lunch prices, however.

Stotts will also propose the district obtain a line of credit agreement with Associated Bank. While the district hasn’t had to borrow money in some time, the agreement would allow the district to short-term borrow in the future in case the district falls into the negative.

“We don’t anticipate that we need to borrow money this year at all,” Stotts said. “We want to have this line of credit in place where we just borrow money and then repay it within the 45-day time limit.”

In addition, board members will receive the time table they asked for concerning a new school for fifth and sixth-graders, to help stem increasing enrollment issues. Administrators will schedule an extra meeting on June 6 to discuss possible sites where a new school could be built, or where a building could be purchased.

Administrators are calling on the board to make a decision by June 14 under the time table. District officials hope to submit the proposal to the Minnesota Department of Education then so MDE officials can comment on the board’s decided solution.

If board members approve the proposal, which would include renovations to Woodson Kindergarten Center, a bond referendum would be placed on the ballot in the upcoming election this November.