CROSSVILLE — The Cumberland County Board of Education approved an increase to school lunch prices for the 2012-'13 school year to meet requirements of the Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

School Nutrition Supervisor Kathy Hamby recommended increasing elementary school student lunch prices from $1.70 to $1.75, and increasing high school student lunch prices from $2 to $2.10. Teacher and staff prices will increase from $2.50 to $2.65 while visitor lunch prices will increase from $3 to $3.15.

"For the school year 2012-2013, school districts which, on average, charged less than $2.51 for paid lunches in school year 2011-2012 are required to adjust their average price," Hamby wrote in her recommendation.

Hamby also requested approval of bid specifications for food and non-food items for the 2012-'13 school year and the USDA Farm to School Implementation Grant application to provide access to locally grown foods in eligible schools. Grant awards are expected to range from $65,000 to $100,000 for implementation grants. A match of at least 25 percent would be required.

Richard Janeway, 2nd District representative, moved to approve the items as presented, supported by David Bowman, 7th District representative. The motion was unanimously approved.

The board also approved a blanket textbook approval for language arts and vocational textbooks.

Director of Schools Aarona VanWinkle said, "Textbook publishers have not kept up with the core standards and there are no textbooks aligned with those. We hope when the core standards come out, textbooks will have supplements to help align them to the new curriculum."

Janeway asked about digital options for learning materials and moving away from textbooks. VanWinkle said the schools did not currently have the infrastructure required for use of a large number of wireless devices, nor funds to purchase the hardware necessary for schools to transition to paperless textbooks.

Janeway said, "Next month, bring us an estimate of what it would cost for our school system to step into the 21st century."

VanWinkle said wiring schools for wireless Internet and communications would cost $800,000. The system has applied for a grant to help with that cost but has not yet heard a decision on funding.

In other action, the following was approved:

•approval of disposal of surplus property at North Cumberland Elementary, Crab Orchard Elementary, South Cumberland Elementary and Glenn Martin Elementary.

•Contract between North Cumberland Elementary and Lifetouch for photography services.

•Contract between Crab Orchard Elementary and Lifetouch for photography and yearbook services.

•Contract between Cumberland County High School and Lifetouch for photography services.

•Contract between Brown Elementary and Lifetouch for photography and yearbook services.

•Contract between Pine View Elementary and Lifetouch for photography and yearbook services.

•Contract between the coordinated school health program and Marie Keith for consulting services.

•School-wide fundraiser for Pleasant Hill Elementary for fall 2012 from School Services.

•Overnight field trip for Homestead Elementary cheerleaders to Wilderness Resort in Sevierville June 1-2.

•Overnight and out-of-state field trip for the CCHS Math Club to Atlanta, GA, May 25-26 to attend Six Flags and a Braves ball game.

•Field trip for Crab Orchard 21st Century students to visit NASCAR SpeedPark in Sevierville May 10.

•Out-of-state field trip for the CCHS Garden Club to visit Biltmore House and Gardens in Asheville, NC, May 5.

•Out-of-state field trip to Lake Winnepesaukah in Rossville, GA, May 12, for eighth-grade students at Pine View Elementary.

•Overnight field trip to Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN, June 12-15 for CCHS cheerleaders to attend cheerleading camp.

•Addition of Brooke Chappel, Tyler Brown and Trey Kerley as parent volunteers at Martin Elementary.

•Addition of Kaye Blakely, Rebecca Cooke and Romalina Thompson as volunteers at CCHS.

•Addition of Matthew Allen Headrick as a volunteer at North Cumberland Elementary.

•Addition of Casto Steve Hinch and Jennifer Lynn Simmons as volunteers at South Cumberland Elementary.

•Addition of Kathleen Adele Sherrill as a volunteer at Pleasant Hill Elementary.

•Addition of Tarah Jane Walker as a volunteer at Stone Memorial High School.