The cost of lunch in the up-Island regional school district is going up next year.

A divided up-Island regional school committee voted 3-2 this week to raise the price of a student lunch 25 cents. School staff will pay 50 cents more.

Currently, student lunches cost $2.75 and staff lunches cost $3.75.

The growing popularity of the lunch program is the reason for the increase. School leaders plan to increase the hours for head cook Jenny Devivo next year and also hire another part-time assistant in the lunch room. The additional hours and part-time worker will also allow the program to begin serving breakfast.

The increase in hours for Ms. Devivo were reflected in the seventh draft of an $11.1 million fiscal year 2017 operating budget that the committee reviewed at their meeting Monday night. The budget is a 3.6 per cent increase over last year. A public hearing on the budget will be held Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the West Tisbury School.

At the meeting Monday, Vineyard schools superintendent Matthew D’Andrea praised the budget. “That I think is a very responsible budget,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “It addresses what we wanted to achieve in the budget around student learning, around school lunch program and around the work needs to be done in both buildings.”

Discussion about the school lunch program in West Tisbury and Chilmark began earlier in the school year. The up-Island schools launched an independent lunch program in 2012 that included renovation of the kitchen at the West Tisbury School. Freshly cooked meals with Island-sourced ingredients and a salad bar quickly proved popular with students and staff alike.

Between the 2013 and 2014 school years, the total number of meals sold in the district rose from 29,529 to 36,535. Free and reduced-price lunches have also seen an increase this year. All the growth has led to a need for more staffing, and more spending. In December a survey was sent to school parents seeking feedback about a possible price increase; the results showed support for a small increase.

But on Monday committee members were divided over how to approach the issue.

Michael Marcus, a committee member from West Tisbury, said even with the prices increases, the school lunch is a bargain.

But committee chairman Robert Lionette from Chilmark advocated a slower approach. “I’m as guilty as the next person, we see a program that is great . . . . the breakfast and lunch program, but perhaps we should look at things as a more moderate and incremental growth, instead of jumping all in,” he said.

Mr. Lionette voted against the increase, along with committee member Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter 3rd from West Tisbury. Mr. Marcus, along with Kate DeVane from West Tisbury and Theresa Manning from Aquinnah, voted in favor.