FRAC is a member of the
Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom,
an initiative that aims to boost participation in school breakfast. Funded by a grant from the Walmart Foundation, the initiative will dramatically boost breakfast participation by supporting breakfast in the classroom programs in five high-need school districts (Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, Orlando and Prince George’s County, MD.)Other members of the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom include:
Resources
The School Breakfast Program (SBP) makes it possible for all school children in the United States to receive a nutritious breakfast every school day.
Many children do not eat a nutritious breakfast every morning. Often families are living on very tight budgets and can’t afford to provide good breakfasts at home every day nor the money to buy them at school. Regardless of income, families today live busy lives that often make it difficult to sit down long enough in the morning to eat a nutritious breakfast. Sometimes children are not physically capable of eating breakfast at home when they first wake up. Other children may have long commutes to school or long periods between breakfast at home and school lunch, making breakfast at school an important option.
Studies conclude that students who eat school breakfast increase their math and reading scores as well as improve their speed and memory in cognitive tests. Research also shows that children who eat breakfast at school – closer to class and test-taking time – perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home. Evidence has grown that children who eat school breakfast are less likely to be overweight, and have improved nutrition – they eat more fruits, drink more milk, and consume a wider variety of foods than those who don’t eat breakfast or have breakfast at home.
Schools that offer breakfast free to all students in the classroom report decreases in discipline and psychological problems, visits to school nurses and tardiness; increases in student attentiveness and attendance; and generally improved learning environments.
Breakfasts served as part of the SBP provide approximately one-fourth of the daily recommended levels for key nutrients that children need. They are required to provide no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat.
Reimbursement and Funding
2011-12 School Year Federal Reimbursement Rates:
- Free Breakfast: $1.51
- Reduced Price Breakfast: $1.21
- Paid Breakfast: $0.27
Schools where at least 40 percent of the lunches served were free or reduced price may qualify for extra “severe need” reimbursements of $0.29 per free or reduced price breakfast served.
Download Income Guidelines and Reimbursement Rates for the Federal Child Nutrition Programs (pdf)Download the fact sheet Provision 2 of the National School Lunch Act (pdf)
The School Breakfast Program provides per meal cash reimbursements to public and non-profit private schools and residential childcare institutions that provide free and reduced price breakfasts to eligible children. Reimbursable meals must meet federal nutrition standards.
Provision 2 is an option that enables schools and institutions to provide free meals to all of their students while reducing paperwork and administrative costs. While any school that participates in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program may opt for Provision 2, generally schools with high percentages of low-income students (75 percent or more) are able to utilize this option. Under Provision 2, all students receive free meals, regardless of income, and schools collect applications for free and reduced-price meals once every four years, at most. Also, schools under Provision 2 do not have to track and record the different categories of meals served for at least three out of every four years. Provision 2 schools pay the difference between the cost of serving meals at no charge to all students and the federal reimbursement for the meals.
School nutrition programs should contact their State Agencies for assistance on how to implement Provision 2 in some or all of their schools.
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