After a month of free breakfasts in the district, the increase in students taking advantage of the program has been significant so far, said Director of Food and Nutrition Nicole Parks.
As a former educator herself, Parks knows it’s important for students to eat in the morning. Whether they didn’t have anything in the house to eat or didn’t have time, this opportunity allows for anyone to benefit. Breakfast is one of the most important parts of a student’s day, she said.
“You can kind of tell kids that don’t eat. Their day is kind of ruined when they don’t eat that breakfast,” she said.
Parks said the number of students eating breakfast at the elementary school has increased by about 100. Now, they serve 350-375 student breakfasts a day. They serve about 420 students lunch, so the numbers between the two are not far off, she said.
The middle school’s numbers have gone up by about 60 students. Before, they were feeding about 100. Now it’s up to 160.
The high school was feeding about 50 students breakfast last year. Parks said that number is up to about 125 to 150 now.
Parks said the numbers may be increasing, but it depends on the day. Some groups like choir stop in after their morning meeting before class, which helps increase numbers. Some students take their meal with them to their first classes, too.
The School Board was presented with this idea from Superintendent Stu Moeckel during the summer. After discussion, the board was supportive of the idea and decided to give it a try for this school year.
Moeckel said 35% of students receive free or reduced lunches in the district, and the program will help reduce stigma around that.
The goal was to increase the percent of students eating breakfast at school from about 25% to 50% to make the cost feasible and sustainable. The district was not eligible to have this program state funded, but with reimbursement the district would not lose money on the free breakfasts.
Numerous other benefits coming from the program were also discussed by the board before it was approved in July.
At the October board meeting, Moeckel will have an update on the program with a presentation of exact numbers of students participating.
Samantha Arredondo has children in both the middle and elementary schools. Her students have participated in the free breakfast program.
Arredondo said the board’s approval of the free breakfast trial period is an example of its commitment to supporting the kids in the community.
“We all know in the times that we live in, and food scarcity is an issue for some of our families and to be able to give access beyond education for students in the district, yeah, I was very happy,” she said.
She said after the board is able to take the data and understand what will work for keeping this going long term, she is confident everyone in decision-making positions will do what’s best for students and the district.
Arredondo applauds the board for trying something new and looks forward to seeing what the data shows after the trial period.
Abbi Warmker has two students at the elementary school and said she was thrilled to find out about the district’s decision to try out the expanded breakfast program.
Warmker said it’s evidence the schools care about the whole child, not just academic performance. It shows the district is willing to meet student needs, she said.
She said she doesn’t see a downside to free breakfasts, and thinks most other parents agree.
If students have their primary needs met, they can focus on learning and getting the most out of the school day, Warmker said.
“I would love for it to become a permanent thing, of course, if the school can secure the funding necessary,” she said.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].
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