天美麻豆

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With 28 years in school nutrition behind her, 12 as director of food services in Plymouth-Canton Community School, near Detroit, Kristen Hennessey has meal planning down to a science. She can usually look at a menu, estimate the cost and count on having all the ingredients and supplies ready for preparation.

But now, with chicken and beef prices up, a worldwide shortage of packaging materials and a dearth of long-haul truckers, she鈥檚 not as sure what she鈥檒l be serving the district鈥檚 18,000 students this fall. And she won鈥檛 be surprised if distributors start adding transportation surcharges 鈥渢o stop the bleeding on their end鈥� 鈥� something she hasn鈥檛 seen since the Great Recession.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a domino effect,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e at the point now where we don鈥檛 even know what鈥檚 going to come in the back door.鈥�

Food services are just one aspect of school operations affected by inflation, which is experiencing a 13-year high. Wages are climbing because districts can鈥檛 find enough employees to drive buses or provide students additional academic support. Price hikes on materials are causing some districts to hit pause on construction projects and districts are for teachers to help students catch up.

At a time when the American Rescue Plan is flooding school districts with more federal money than they鈥檝e ever had, educators are slowly awakening to the reality that those funds might not go as far as expected and that inflation may have a lasting impact on their regular budgets as well .

鈥淪chool districts are like little cities. You鈥檝e got food service. You鈥檝e got transportation. You鈥檝e got maintenance. Inflation across the sectors will impact all those areas,鈥� said Charles Carpenter, chief financial officer for the Denver Public Schools.

The economic indicators are clear. This summer, the Consumer Price Index 鈥� which measures changes in what people typically pay for goods and services 鈥� saw its largest one-month and 12-month increases since 2008, according to the government鈥檚 .

Experts attribute in inflation in part to the rollback of pandemic restrictions: Consumers are traveling, eating out and shopping more, which is driving up prices. But there鈥檚 not enough supply to meet the demand.

The debate is over how much to worry about it. Some that President Joe Biden鈥檚 policies 鈥� the partisan relief bill that passed in March and his big-ticket infrastructure packages 鈥� will hurt the economy, while others argue this period of inflation and won鈥檛 spiral out of control.

Either way, Carpenter is closely monitoring costs of raw materials like lumber and copper as the district moves forward with building new schools and adding air-conditioning to 24 sites over the next three years.

Contractors 鈥渁re bidding on our projects knowing that they鈥檒l see price increases,鈥� he said. 鈥淒o you try and push forward now and lock in a price or wait and it could be worse?鈥�

Some districts are discussing whether to to lower prices and others have decided to pause projects because contractors can鈥檛 provide solid cost estimates. The St. Clair R-III School District, southwest of St. Louis, decided in June to delay construction on a performing arts center and a bus facility until costs stabilize. 鈥淚t has become much more difficult to obtain competitive, cost-effective bids for construction projects,鈥� Superintendent Kyle Kruse said in his report to the board.

鈥楥an鈥檛 find the people鈥�

While districts might be able to defer construction or renovation, they can鈥檛 put off addressing students鈥� academic needs 鈥� especially given the extreme learning loss that often accompanied more than a year of remote learning.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got this short-term demand for services to mitigate instructional loss and a shortage of labor willing to put in that time,鈥� said Jonathan Travers, who leads consulting services for Education Resource Strategies, a nonprofit that helps districts leverage resources to improve student learning.

That鈥檚 why in addition to price hikes on materials, districts are seeing higher labor costs. Some have offered bonuses and even to attract summer school teachers. The danger for districts, he said, is that unions might expect to maintain those higher wages when they return to the bargaining table to negotiate future contracts.

In Plymouth-Canton, Hennessey still has 20 positions to fill before fall. She said entry-level school nutrition employees earn about $11 per hour, but that doesn鈥檛 come close to the $15 they can earn at McDonald鈥檚. And districts nationally are struggling to find even with higher pay.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have all this money,鈥� said Uri Monson, chief financial officer with the Philadelphia schools. 鈥淏ut if you can鈥檛 find the people to do the work 鈥� even if you鈥檙e going to pay them 鈥� that鈥檚 a problem.鈥�

Districts aren鈥檛 the only ones feeling the pinch. from the accounting firm KPMGshowed parents estimate they鈥檒l spend an average of $20 more on school supplies this fall. Parents of young children, many of whom delayed enrollment last year, anticipate spending $156 per child 鈥� a 32 percent increase over last school year.

What鈥檚 eating up much of their back-to-school spending? 鈥� a necessity some may have skipped last fall when many districts opened remotely.

One relief for families is that the increased costs come at the same time the majority of households with school-age children are receiving monthly of $250 to $300, approved as part of the relief bill.

鈥楥alm the markets鈥�

Some districts plan budgets to allow them to ride out periods like this. The Philadelphia district signs fixed contracts for expenses such as fuel, food services 鈥� and, of course, labor.

鈥淲e occasionally get criticized when we do long-term guaranteed pricing contracts,鈥� Monson said. 鈥淣o one is going to complain right now. This is exactly why we do it.鈥�

But he acknowledged that the soaring prices are hitting contractors hard as well as those waiting for supplies. 鈥淭he cost of wood and basic materials has been out of control,鈥� Monson said. And with shipping delays, he鈥檚 urging departments to allow longer lead times for deliveries. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to order something on Friday and expect it to be there on Monday.鈥�

That鈥檚 because the most Americans experienced at the beginning of the pandemic haven鈥檛 really gone away.

鈥淭here are shipments from Asia that have been stuck at the Los Angeles port since October鈥� 鈥� mostly because of labor shortages, said Charlie Andrews, a senior cost manager with Rider Levett Bucknall, which advises school districts on construction costs and provides project management services.

When contractors face unforeseen costs, such as tariffs, they often pass those on to school systems.

Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund 鈥� which advocates for modernizing school facilities 鈥� said cost fluctuations help make the case for Biden鈥檚 $100 school construction plan, a combination of direct grants and bonds. The proposal didn鈥檛 make it in the with Republicans, but is expected to re-emerge in the details of a Democrats have proposed.

鈥淒istricts need long money,鈥� Filardo said. 鈥淚t will calm the markets somewhat and give them more leverage as they plan and implement projects.鈥�

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