Coppell Chronicle Vol. 6, No. 24
Inflation Affects Coppell ISD Cafeterias • Crews Racing to Finish New Tech Wing • Council OKs Contracts to Improve Parks • Irving Reins in Short-Term Rentals
Inflation Affects Coppell ISD Cafeterias
Coppell ISD students are going to pay a bit more for meals this school year.
During their July 27 meeting, the district’s trustees were told breakfast prices are increasing by 50 cents, and lunch prices are going up by 25 cents.
“As fuel prices continue to be high, we know that will drive meal prices as well,” Chief Financial Officer Amber Lasseigne told the trustees.
Trustee Leigh Walker asked when the prices previously were increased, and Lasseigne said that happened last summer. That was news to this reporter, but when I informed the hungry hungry hippo who lives in my house and attends Coppell High School that the price of his lunch was going up, this was his reaction: “What? Again?”
By digging through old issues of the district’s Informed newsletter, I found a blurb from July of 2025 that said meal prices were raised last summer for the first time in three years. Here’s a look at the prices before and since that announcement.
Lasseigne said Coppell ISD wasn’t able to raise meal prices for three years because it had an excess of fund balance, and increasing cafeteria fees is not allowed when a district is in that situation. Director of Child Nutrition Eric Lozano added this during last week’s meeting: “We did take a bigger chunk last year, and this year we are going up by just a small amount, to get us even with what’s happened over the previous six years in total.”
Walker asked whether parents should expect price increases on an annual basis. Lozano said the nutrition budget will be assessed annually, but he foresees price increases every other year or every third year.
Trustee Jonathan Powers wanted to know how Coppell ISD’s prices compare to those in neighboring districts. Lozano said Carrollton-Farmer Branch ISD, which includes portions of Coppell and Valley Ranch, charges $3.75 for lunch at all grade levels, but about 50 percent of that district’s population qualifies for free or reduced meals. In Coppell ISD, that statistic is only 10 percent.
Lozano also said Coppell ISD’s prices are akin to those charged by nearby districts with similar demographics, such as Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, Lovejoy ISD in Collin County, and Southlake’s Carroll ISD. Those districts have some of the most expensive lunches in North Texas, as shown on this slide.
Coppell ISD students will return to classrooms and cafeterias on Aug. 12. The other school districts serving portions of Coppell — Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Lewisville ISD — will begin their semesters on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, respectively.
Universal Academy will welcome students back to its Coppell campus on Aug. 10, and the city’s other charter school, Coppell Classical Academy, will do the same on Aug. 12.
A Brief Promotional Interruption
Free subscribers to the Coppell Chronicle may not be aware that each edition includes a section called the Chronicle Crumbs. These are brief items of interest that should be noted for the record but maybe aren’t worthy of an entire article. Today’s edition of the Chronicle Crumbs could be the crumbiest one yet, and it begins with a preview of an article I plan to publish in next week’s edition. (What a tease!)
Crews Racing to Finish New Tech Wing
Crews are working around the clock to ensure that renovations throughout Coppell ISD are completed before classes resume.
“This is exactly what I’ve experienced pretty much every summer on renovation work,” Chief Operations Officer Randy Fite told the Board of Trustees last week. “It always comes down to the very end.”
Fite said workers have been at Coppell High School “basically 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” The renovations there include new spaces for career and technical education, as well as the creation of a wing to accommodate New Tech High @ Coppell, which is moving from its campus on Samuel Boulevard. Fite’s presentation included pictures of the exterior and interior entrances to the New Tech wing.