Paying the back-to-school tax
By: Rob Port
August 20, 2025
MINOT — For the Minot Public School District, the first day of school is this week.
It’s a bittersweet time. Many parents cheer as they send their kids back to school, having grown weary of having them around all day during the summer months, but even though I’m a work-from-home dad, I miss my kids when they’re gone. I miss my wife, too, who is a music teacher and also returns to school this week.
This is a hectic time for parents generally, though, as we scramble to get supplies, new clothes, and fill out the various forms about immunizations and activities.
And, of course, we pay the back-to-school tax. In addition to any fees that may be due, we must also replenish our children’s school lunch accounts.
We’ve had a rollicking debate in recent political cycles over whether taxpayers should cover the cost of school lunches. Eight other states have done it — California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont — but a majority of North Dakota’s lawmakers have demurred.
The prevailing argument is that parents ought to pay to feed their children, and the free and reduced breakfast/lunch program, for those who need it, is generous enough. Lawmakers have expanded the free/reduced lunch program — a family of four with a household income of $72,000 now qualifies — but they’ve stopped short of covering lunches for all.
I maintain that this is the wrong way to approach the issue.
Let’s list some true things.
We want families in North Dakota.
Our state has a chronic labor shortage.
Our state has also endured times when our young people departed to pursue careers and start families elsewhere, leaving us with a narrowing tax base comprised of increasingly elderly workers.
Things have also gotten tougher for families. Housing costs are high. Inflation is a headache. Society has also imposed new challenges on raising children that previous generations didn’t have to deal with.
If I said that we ought to pursue policies that make life easier for families with school-age children, most North Dakotans would agree.
Which brings us back to school lunches.
According to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, in the 2025-2026 academic year, a full-price school lunch will cost $4.69 per meal. A family with two children in school will pay $9.38 per day for lunches. The school year lasts for 175 days, and if we assume that those kids attend every day (unlikely, I know, due to sick days, family events, half-days and the weather), we’re talking about a $1,641 bill for lunches.
Read the full article here.
