"You like some ice cream?"

While the kids play with imaginary food, school administrators deal with real food and rising food prices. There is an $18,000 deficit from unpaid meals last year even though about 40% of New Hanover County school children get a free or reduced lunch each day.

In elementary schools the cost of a meal is up 15 cents this year. In middle schools it's up 20 cents and in high schools it's up a quarter. Director of Child Nutrition Imer Smith says she hopes parents will take advantage of federal grant money, so her program won't have future deficits for unpaid lunches.

"We're expecting and we're hoping that we'll maybe see more parents apply for this program that we have available for free lunch or reduced lunch for their children."

New Hanover County schools are also getting hit with high gas prices. Vice Chair of the school board Jeannette Nichols says the cost of diesel fuel has forced the school board to make some disappointing decisions.

For the upcoming school year, starting next Tuesday, the school board has set aside its own money to cover basic transportation costs usually covered by the state.

"Knowing that the state was not going to be able to provide the money that we should have, then we had to take $300,000 of money that should be going to other programs and needs."

That $300,000 is only for necessary busing, not fieldtrips. PTAs will play a critical role in paying for fieldtrips this year, but not all PTAs are equal. Tanita Wallace is the vice president of fundraising for Gregory's PTA. She says her organization is successful because of what Gregory has to offer.

"Gregory is a magnet school and most of the people that are there, are there by choice, they want their kids to be at Gregory. We have a great group of parents and they are very actively involved."

As a magnet school, Gregory offers hands-on science instruction like gardening and caring for a menagerie of animals. Beth Brampton, the science resource teacher, helps her students watch over Iggy the iguana and Sherbet the corn snake, among many others.

Brampton finds outside funding to cover the costs of her unique projects.

"I've been lucky. Last year I was awarded two grants. With that money I was able to buy a lot of gardening equipment all the lumber, a lot of plants, hoses, and things like that."

In addition to grants, Brampton receives $250 from the PTA each year for classroom purchases.

The PTA also sponsors a school uniform store, where parents can swap clothing their kids have outgrown. The uniform store, and simply having uniforms, saves parents like Tanita Wallace, quite a bit.

"My children are what I call high maintenance. They want the best of the best. And with uniforms it doesn't matter whether it comes from Target because you can't have any kind of labels on it, so you wouldn't know if it were Polo or Target brand."

The cost of everything from food to fuel to clothing and supplies is up, while funding for teachers has been scaled back by the school board. Nichols says in tough economic times, teachers are hit hard.

"We were hoping to give a bonus to the high needs schools. While these teachers mainly have volunteered they want to work in these schools they will not receive the bonus because they are not going to be able to make the growth and the progress that the state requires."

Schools across the country are looking for innovative ways to save and make money. Some, like rural counties in Minnesota and Nevada, are going to 4-day school weeks while others are naming buildings after large donors or selling advertisements on school buses.

For now, New Hanover County is relying on the support and ingenuity of teachers, parents, and the community.

Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? Please e-mail us, we'd like to hear from you. news@whqr.org.

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