"A 'School Breakfast Scorecard' released today by the Food Research and Action Center ranked Wisconsin first among 45 states that saw an increase in the number of children participating in the school breakfast program."Chew on that for a second or two. What it really says, without actually saying it anywhere, is that Wisconsin has been last, or close to last, in feeding low-income kids school-provided breakfasts. Thirty-four percent of Wisconsin's public school kids are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. At Racine Unified, 46.7% are eligible.
The glass-half-full statistic cited in the release states proudly: "The School Breakfast Scorecard indicated that Wisconsin increased by 25.3% the number of children participating in the school breakfast program in 2007." Not bad; the state with the next highest gain was Idaho, with a mere 10.9% increase.But the glass-half-empty version, not mentioned in the release, shows that Wisconsin has had more schoolkids with empty tummies than anywhere else in the country. In 2005-'06, the state was 51st, dead last behind 49 states and the District of Columbia, in the percentage of free-lunch-eligible kids who also got a free or reduced price breakfast. In 2006-'07, we jumped up -- to 46th. We're now feeding breakfast to 35.7% of the kids whose parents' low income makes them eligible for free lunches.
Other states are far more successful. New Mexico, for example, feeds breakfast to 61% of its kids eligible for free lunch, based on family income.
The issue is the schools themselves. Currently, only 61% of Wisconsin's public and private schools that participate in the federal school lunch program also participate in the voluntary school breakfast program. (In Arkansas -- and I hate it when we're behind Arkansas in anything -- every school offering lunch also offers breakfast.)
At Racine Unified, only 13 of 34 schools offer breakfast to students: Horlick High School, Gilmore Middle School and 11 elementary schools: Julian Thomas, Janes, Knapp, Wadewitz, Mitchell, Fratt, Johnson, Goodland, Jerstad, Olympia Brown and Gifford. One of the roadblocks at elementary schools (besides funding) is that the schools use the gym as a cafeteria, and don't have time to clean up after breakfast before a first period gym class starts. Unified would like to implement a "Breakfast in the Classroom" program, but it's still in the developmental stage.
The highest-serving elementary school is Julian Thomas, with 91.1% eligible but serving breakfast to only only 39.1%. Districtwide, the percentage of free/reduced qualifying students was 46.7% in May, and the district served breakfast to 6.2% of its students.
Still, this dismal percentage masks progress: In 2001, the district served just 75,513 breakfast. In the 2006-07 school year, total breakfasts served was 183,074. Breakfasts include cereal, snack, 100% juice and a carton of milk. Federal reimbursement rates for free breakfasts are $1.65; for reduced eligibility it's $1.36. Unified gives a free breakfast to all kids who qualify for either free or reduced price.School breakfasts became an issue in Wisconsin in May 2000, when Sen. Kohl held a Congressional hearing in Green Bay to examine persistent childhood hunger issues. Later that year, he established a project in Wisconsin to provide funding for schools to help offset the costs associated with starting the federal school breakfast program.
The expansion of the state's breakfast program "shows tremendous progress by Wisconsin's schools that will have a positive impact on students, teachers and their learning environment," Kohl said this week. "Evidence shows that the school breakfast program boosts academic performance and reduces behavioral problems, decreasing the classroom distractions that make it tough for teachers to teach and students to learn."
Kohl has obtained six federal grants to expand the school breakfast program in Wisconsin. The first three, totaling $2 million, funded breakfast programs in 247 schools, expanding breakfast access to 100,902 students. The next three grants, for $2.7 million, went to UW Extension and brought over 1,000 schools into the program.
The complete Food Research and Action Center School Breakfast Scorecard report is HERE.
And the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has lunch and breakfast statistics for every school in the state HERE.
