When kids eat a nutritious breakfast, they’re more likely to do well in school.
But many kids skip a morning meal. And only about 20 percent of Hawaii’s children from low-income households eat breakfasts offered free or at a reduced cost to them at schools.
A Honolulu social justice law group is proposing a solution: Give all children, even if they’re not low-income, a free breakfast to eat in the classroom as the day begins.
Jenny Lee, staff attorney at the Hawaii Appleseed Center, said making sure students eat breakfast could actually boost the achievement of kids — and schools.
The center has teamed up with three schools (Linapuni and Kaewai elementary schools in Kalihi and Kaala Elementary in Wahiawa) for a universal breakfast pilot program.
Lee hopes the schools can start offering breakfast in classrooms as early as January, but funding and planning issues could push the start of the program to July.
A growing number of school districts are offering universal breakfast, and research has shown such programs are linked to increased achievement and drops in discipline issues.
Glenna Owens, director of the state Department of Education’s food services branch, said school breakfast participation among low-income students has always been low in the islands, in part because students don’t get to school early enough to eat it.
Participation in lunch is much higher among young students. About 90 percent of eligible elementary school children eat free or reduced-cost lunches, but participation drops to just 20 percent at high schools. (Older kids opt for off-campus meals.)
The Appleseed Center says the costs of offering universal breakfast could be small at schools with a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-cost meals.
That’s because the U.S. Department of Agriculture reimburses Hawaii for each free meal served at a slightly higher rate than what the meals costs to prepare.
The excess, Lee says, could help pay for meals for students who don’t qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch. However, she added, the program may need additional funding to make it work at schools that serve mixed-income communities.
