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GREENSBORO - Rising food costs and a lack of assistance from state lawmakers have put Cynthia Sevier of Guilford County Schools in the soup: She fears raising meal prices again will cause some students to stop buying cafeteria lunches.

"We're looking at every penny we spend to see if we need to spend it to keep meal prices from going up," said Sevier, who oversees the district's school lunch program. By the end of the month, Sevier plans to recommend to the co-interim superintendents whether to pass those costs on to families, she said.

The Guilford County Board of Education raised lunch prices by 20 cents last year, with prices ranging from $1.80 to $2.20. That jump translated to an extra $12 a month for Patricia Lattimore, of Greensboro, to buy her three sons lunch at Jones Elementary and Page High. Lattimore said she adjusted her budget by scheduling fewer trips to the nail salon and relaxing her hair at home.

"If they raise it (this year) my children will bring bag lunches," Lattimore said.

The General Assembly declined last week to approve from $2 million to $4 million in recurring funds to help districts cover the costs of serving more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

"I wanted to put in $20 million to fully implement the nutritious meals standards in elementary schools," said Rep. Doug Yongue of Scotland County, who sponsored a bill in May requesting the funds. "Before it was all done, they cut it all out."

As consolation, his colleagues postponed for another year the implementation of the 2005 elementary school standards, which aim to reduce childhood obesity rates. Lawmakers also allocated $100,000 for an obesity study and $500,000 for additional pilots of the standards. A 2005 pilot conducted in more than 100 schools showed that adding fresh produce and grains drove up costs and caused an initial drop in lunch sales.

Most school systems now serve more healthful meals in elementary schools, said Cindy Marion, public policy chairwoman for the School Nutrition Association of North Carolina.

"We're kind of at the drawing board trying to figure out what to do with the (newest) pilot," Marion said. "We've studied this to death and we know the results."

Guilford County Schools started buying more food items with lower fat, salt and sugar content for all grades in 2006. Sevier said she had to resort to adding high-profit items - sweet tea and large cookies - back to the menu in the spring.

"We didn't have enough money to pay the bills," Sevier said.

Most school nutrition programs in the state have budget deficits.

"My real frustration lies in the fact that we've got cafeterias that don't know how they are going to make payroll when school starts," said Marion, who also is pushing for more federal funding.

Sevier has few options for trimming her $29 million budget. The school board in June approved food contracts with price increases ranging from 4.8 percent to 8 percent.

The district expects to spend $400,000 more on milk next school year and $68,000 more on fresh bread. "We've made the decision that we will stay as healthy as we possibly can," Sevier said, "even though it comes with a higher price tag."

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com