§302A-405  School cafeterias; funds; expenditures.  (a)  The price for school meals shall be set by the department to ensure that moneys received from the sale of the meals shall be not less than one-half of the cost of preparing the meals.  The prices for school meals may be adjusted annually based on the previous year's costs rounded to the nearest five cents; provided that the department by rule shall provide a lower rate or free meals to children based on their economic need.

     (b)  All moneys received by or for the public school cafeterias from the sale of meals, the sale of services, the federal government, or any other source, shall be deposited in one special school lunch fund.  Except as otherwise provided by the legislature, all expenditures for the operation of public school cafeterias shall be made from this fund.

     (c)  It is the intent of this section not to jeopardize the receipt of any federal aid and to the extent, and only to the extent necessary to effectuate this intent, the governor may modify the strict provisions of this section, but shall promptly report any such modification with the governor's reasons therefor to the next succeeding session of the legislature for review. [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2; am L 1998, c 311, §6; am L 2000, c 171, §2; am L 2005, c 71, §2; am L 2009, c 26, §4]