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Elementary, middle and high school students will have to pay 10 cents more for lunch next year, under a spending plan approved Tuesday by the school board.

Elementary school lunches will cost $2.50 next year, up from $2.40; middle school and high school lunches will cost $2.75, up from $2.65, according to school system information. The price for breakfast will remain at $1.25 for all county schools.

Students identified for reduced-priced meals will be charged 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch, which are the same prices as last year.

School officials said the price increases were necessary, because food costs increased 11 percent during fiscal 2009 and are expected to jump by 3 percent next year.

The school system expects more students to eat reduced-priced meals next year, thus increasing the revenue taken in, but the amount won't generate enough money to cover the projected cost increases, according to a school system memo.

Last year, the board approved a school system request to increase the price of elementary school, middle school and high school lunches by 15 cents. The board also increased the price of breakfast in all schools by 5 cents.

Time is running out

Residents who are interested in applying for the vacant District 5 school board seat have until 5 p.m. Friday to turn in their materials.

The county school board will vote for the person to complete the term of Nancy Navarro, who was recently elected to the County Council. As of last week, Silver Spring residents Paulette Burt and Robert L. Monsheimer, and Burtonsville resident Michael Hickman had applied for appointment to the board.

On Monday, Silver Spring resident Jeanne Taylor applied. Taylor, an advocate for special-needs children, is a paraeducator at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School in Silver Spring. From 1992 to 2002, Taylor worked as a project, account and help desk manager at AMISYS in Rockville.

The appointment process includes a review of submitted applications, personal interviews, voter registration verification and confirmation of district residency. That process is expected to be completed by July 1, which is the beginning of fiscal 2010.

The boundaries of the district can be identified by calling the Board of Supervisors of Elections at 240-777-8500. A person who is subject to the authority of the school board, such as a school system employee, may not serve on the panel.

Mail, hand-deliver, e-mail or fax application documents to the school board office, at 850 Hungerford Drive, Room 123, Rockville, MD 20850. E-mails can be sent to roland_ikheloa@mcpsmd.org. The fax number is 301-279-3860. The names and correspondence of all applicants will be available for public review. The school board expects to interview selected candidates on June 26, beginning at 9 a.m.  Those interested must submit the following:

-A signed letter expressing the applicant's desire and willingness to serve on the school board as the District 5 representative, with a term ending on Nov. 30, 2010;

-A brief record of the applicant's personal history and relevant civic, professional and other experience (a resume may suffice);

-A statement certifying that the applicant is a registered voter of Montgomery County and resides in District 5;

-Contact information, including e-mail addresses and telephone numbers where the applicant can be reached.

Call Ikhide R. Ikheloa, the school board's chief of staff, at 301-279-3301, for more information.

Public information officer

leaving school system

Stephen R. Simon, the school system's director of public information, is leaving the job less than one year after accepting it to do independent public relations work, he said Friday.

Simon was appointed by the school board to the position during its July 15 meeting; his last day is July 3.

Simon, 48, is a familiar face in the county. Prior to taking the school system job, he worked as Montgomery College's communications director. He also has been a public information officer for former county executives Sidney J. Kramer, Neal Potter and Douglas M. Duncan.