The school meals fund: spending down its savings

In short

• School meals have their own fund. It is paid for by meal sales and federal meal money, not by the main fund.¹
• 2026-27 plan: spend $21.1 million and take in $15.2 million. The $5.9 million gap comes out of the fund’s savings.¹
• Why: the audit says the fund had more savings than its rule of three months of spending, so the district chose to spend it down.²

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• Meal money stays in the meal fund. Families pay for meals, and the federal school lunch and breakfast programs pay back part of the cost. That money can only be used for school meals.²
• The board adopts a budget for this fund each June, along with the main fund and the debt fund.²
• The fund keeps savings. The district’s target is at least three months of spending.²

What the numbers show

School year	Took in	Spent	Gap
2024-25 (actual)	$15.9 million	$17.4 million	−$1.5 million
2025-26 (plan)	$17.0 million	$19.1 million	−$2.1 million
2026-27 (plan)	$15.2 million	$21.1 million	−$5.9 million

Sources: the district’s 2025 audit and the 2026-27 budget.²¹

• Savings on June 30, 2025: $15.3 million. In 2024-25 the fund also got $0.6 million moved in from another district fund, so savings fell by only $0.9 million.²
• If both plans happen exactly: savings would be about $7.3 million by June 2027. That is about four months of 2026-27 spending, still above the three-month target (our math).³
• Per student: about $512 of meal spending in 2026-27, using the 41,143 students counted in September 2026 (our math).³⁴

The other side

• Spending down extra savings is normal. Meal money cannot go to teachers or buildings, so holding too much of it does not help students.
• But a gap this size can’t last. At $5.9 million a year, the savings above the target would run out in less than a year after 2026-27 (our math).³ Prices or costs would then have to change.
• Plans are not results. In 2024-25 the fund planned a $3.0 million gap (after mid-year changes) and the real gap was $1.5 million.²
• Federal money fell in the plan, from $6.3 million actual in 2024-25 to $5.4 million planned for 2026-27.²¹ We do not know why.

Questions to ask

• What does the planned rise in meals spending pay for?
• How does the board plan to set meal prices once the extra savings are used?¹²

What we still don’t know

• How 2025-26 actually ended. That will be in the 2026 audit.
• How many meals are served, and what a meal costs the district.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We checked every figure against its source. We said the extra savings would last less than a year after 2026-27, not about a year.

Footnotes

1. Leander ISD, 2026-27 Adopted Budget, page 9, “Budget – Legally Adopted Funds,” Child Nutrition column: local revenues $9,669,922; state $65,000; federal $5,449,494; total revenue $15,184,416; function 35 Child Nutrition $21,068,108; net change to fund balance −$5,883,692. Local copy of the page. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Leander ISD, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report 2025, Exhibit J-3, Budgetary Comparison Schedule, Child Nutrition Program Fund, page 103: 2024-25 actual revenues $15,926,642 (local $9,569,752; state $69,175; federal $6,287,715); food services $17,430,788; transfers in $618,250; net change −$885,896; fund balance $16,162,699 beginning and $15,276,803 ending; final budget gap −$2,976,241. Management’s discussion: 2025-26 adopted revenues $16,994,025 and expenditures $19,103,855, planned deficit $2,109,830; fund balance above “the required 3 months operating expenditure threshold,” so a “spend down plan.” Saved copy. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. Our math. $15,276,803 − $2,109,830 − $5,883,692 = $7,283,281. Three months of 2026-27 spending: $21,068,108 ÷ 4 = $5,267,027. $7,283,281 ÷ $21,068,108 × 12 = 4.1 months. Above target: $7,283,281 − $5,267,027 = $2,016,254, less than one more $5.9 million gap. $21,068,108 ÷ 41,143 = $512. $21,068,108 − $17,430,788 = $3,637,320. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Board packet, Oct. 15, 2026, page 151: 41,143 students counted on Sept. 15, 2026. Packet page 151. ↩