FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MANY PA SCHOOLS CONTINUE TO SHUN BREAKFAST

School Breakfast Legislation Needed More Than Ever

Harrisburg (December 11, 2007). Most of the Pennsylvania schools targeted by the Rendell Administration to begin offering breakfast to their students have declined to do so. Of the 239 public schools with at least 20 percent low-income students and no breakfast, only 87 (36 percent) met the Governor’s challenge by offering breakfast this fall.

This finding is included in the Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card, released today by the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center.

Governor Rendell launched the breakfast challenge in February when he asked the General Assembly to require lower-income schools to provide breakfast and also to provide the money to pay for it. During early July, as budget negotiations dragged into the summer, the Governor’s plan was still on the short list of priorities and schools across the state began to make plans to start offering breakfast in September. But in the frantic last hours of the budget session, the General Assembly scuttled the breakfast requirement and adopted only the proposal for additional funding, thereby making it easier for schools to pay for school meals.

“This is a shame, it really is,” said Lindsay Briggs, child nutrition specialist with the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center. “The General Assembly provided the money and left it to the schools to adopt what is an acknowledged best practice in school administration. And most of the schools have said, ‘No thanks.’”

By not starting breakfast programs, the schools in question are leaving available federal dollars unspent. Had the 152 targeted schools that said “no” to breakfast served just 16 percent of their students, over $1 million in USDA funding would have flowed into these Pennsylvania schools, providing an additional 8,800 children with a morning meal.

A national report scheduled for release December 11 th by the Food Research Action Center (FRAC) shows yet again that Pennsylvania’s school breakfast participation lags behind states that require at least some schools to offer breakfast. The Commonwealth continued to rank near the bottom (41 st) nationally and behind five of its adjoining six states. “Our neighboring states have mandates, requiring breakfast to be offered in at least some of their schools. Our General Assembly needs to reconsider what it did in July,” said Briggs. “Most schools have not responded to the financial incentives, and it’s time to follow the approach used successfully in other states.”

Click on the following links for a list of targeted schools that started breakfast, as well as a list of those that did not. There you also will find a chart showing estimated federal funds lost per school as a result of the “no breakfast” decision.

The Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card, released today by the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center, is a comprehensive statewide rating of school districts’ participation in and implementation of the School Breakfast Program during the 2006-07 school year. The report includes five categories that feature exemplary schools as well as those schools that are not providing necessary nutritional support. Highlights within each category follow. Also attached are the category tables from the complete Report Card. Click on the link for a list of all school districts and their school breakfast performance.

Star Performers

“Star Performers” are school districts that integrate breakfast into the school day (much as they do lunch) and encourage all students to participate. Selected for recognition this year are districts in which average daily breakfast participation was at least 50 percent of average daily lunch participation. Leading the way in 2006-07 for the second time was Midland School District in Beaver County with an 85 percent breakfast participation rate. Always a strong performer, Farrell Area School District in Mercer County ranked second with 81 percent of students participating in the School Breakfast Program.

Newly recognized in this category for the 2007-07 report are the following school districts: Tussey Mountain School District ( Bedford), Southeastern Greene School District (Greene), New Castle Area School District ( Lawrence), and Reynolds School District (Mercer).

Getting the Job Done

Schools with many children from low-income families have a special responsibility to implement successful breakfast programs due to the likelihood that some of those children come from homes where there is no food available for breakfast. Recognized here are schools that do a commendable job at reaching high-risk children.

Among school districts in which at least 20 percent of the children came from low-income families, sixteen stood out for serving breakfast to at least half of those students each day. Emerging as a new leader for 2006-07 was Midland School District; 75 percent of its low-income students had breakfast at school.

Schools newly recognized in this year’s report include the following school districts: Reynolds School District (Mercer), Conemaugh Valley School District (Cambria), and Cornell School District (Allegheny).

Moving Up!

Nine school districts began offering the School Breakfast Program last year including Gettysburg Area School District (Adams), Harbor Creek School District (Erie), Conestoga Valley School District (Lancaster), and Pottsville Area School District (Schuylkill), each of which were written up as “Failing the Students” in last year’s Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card. By starting breakfast, these nine school districts joined others that have made the crucial link between nutrition, health, and academics.

Also meriting special recognition for making a beneficial change are eleven districts that increased their breakfast participation by more than 60 percent. Boyertown School District in Berks County topped this category with a 387 percent increase in breakfast participation, while Souderton School District ( Montgomery) ranked second demonstrating a 281 percent increase.

Improvement Needed

Twenty-five school districts with at least 20 percent low-income students reached only a small fraction of those students with breakfast. Eleven of those school districts have been on the “Improvement Needed” list for at least three consecutive years. Once again, Baldwin-Whitehall School District (Allegheny), with 1066 low-income students, leads this category; less than 1 percent of its low-income students received school breakfast on a typical school day. That leaves 1,058 low-income students in the district who are not participating in the School Breakfast Program.

The breakfast program at Penns Manor Area School District ( Indiana) also warrants major improvement, with 8,316 low-income students (98 percent) not eating at school in the morning.

Failing the Children

Eighteen districts with at least 20 percent low-income students did not offer breakfast in its schools. Johnsonburg School District (Elk), with 41 percent low-income students and no breakfast program, had the unfortunate distinction of leading this category in 2006-07.

On the positive side, seven of the districts from the list have begun breakfast in the current school year and will not be on next year’s list of failures! Those districts include: North Schuylkill School District (Schuylkill), Forbes Road School District ( Fulton), Greenwood School District (Perry), Greater Latrobe School District (Westmoreland), Wilson Area School District ( Northampton), Muhlenberg School District (Berks), and Chartiers Valley School District (Allegheny).

Numerous studies continue to show breakfast’s academic, social, and emotional benefits for children. Research has also indicated that by starting the day with a healthy breakfast, children reduce their risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and other future health problems.

For more information regarding school breakfast contact Lindsay Briggs at (717)233-6705 or email at info@pahunger.org.

Star Performers
Making Breakfast a Regular Part of the School Day

Getting the Job Done
Serving Breakfast to Most Low-Income Children

Moving Up!
Starting or Growing Breakfast Programs Last Year 

Improvement Needed
Lots of Need – Few Breakfasts Served 

* First Year Program

Failing the Children
No Breakfast Despite the Need 

* Started breakfast in Fall 2007.

PRINTABLE VERSION

To View the Press Release for Your Area,

Click on One of Links Below

Download the Complete Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card (PDF)

Click here to download a free Adobe PDF reader. You will not be able to enjoy reading this version of the Hunger Advocate without it.

Back to Top