FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GRADING OUR SCHOOLS ON BREAKFAST

Pennsylvania Hunger Action Releases Annual School Breakfast Report Card

Harrisburg (December 19, 2008). What schools make the grade when it comes to school breakfast in Pennsylvania? The Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center today released the Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card, a comprehensive review and rating of school districts in Pennsylvania based on their participation in the federal school breakfast program.The report covers the 2007-2008 school year.

“Research has continually shown that eating breakfast at school can help a child’s academic performance, improve their behavior, and reduce the risk of obesity,” said Chad Newton, Communications Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center. “That’s why it’s important to look at these results and see who’s getting the job done in our state and who isn’t.”

This year’s School Breakfast Report Card does show some encouraging trends, such as the fact that 28 schools started school breakfast programs in Pennsylvania in 2007-08, up from just nine in 2006-07. But overall school breakfast participation in the state has increased only slightly since last year, ranking Pennsylvania still near the bottom nationally.

A national report scheduled for release next month by the Food Research Action Center (FRAC) will most likely indicate Pennsylvania still ranks 41 st nationally among all states in school breakfast participation. Neighboring states such as Maryland, New York, Ohio and West Virginia all have breakfast mandates and rank well ahead of the Commonwealth.

“The bottom line is, there is major room for improvement in the state of Pennsylvania when it comes to school breakfast,” said Newton. “We have been taking baby steps, while our neighboring states seem to have made giant leaps forward.”

The Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card includes six 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. For a list of all school districts and their school breakfast performance, go to www.pahunger.org.

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.

Topping the list in 2007-08, and for the third consecutive year, was Midland School District in Beaver County. Midland had a nearly 85 percent breakfast participation rate. Farrell Area School District in Mercer County ranked second with 82 percent of students participating in the School Breakfast Program.

Newly recognized in this category for the 2007-08 report are the following school districts: Pittsburgh School District (Allegheny), Conemaugh Valley School District (Cambria), Mahanoy Area School District (Schuylkill), and Monessen City School District (Westmoreland).

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, seventeen stood out for serving breakfast to at least half of those students each day. Emerging as the leader for 2007-08 was Farrell Area School District; over 82 percent of its low-income students had breakfast at school.

Schools newly recognized in this year’s report are the Harrisburg City School District (Dauphin) and Upper Darby School District ( Delaware).

Starting Breakfast

Twenty-eight school districts began offering the School Breakfast Program in 2007-08, up from only nine that started breakfast in 2006-07. This list includes Chartiers Valley School District (Allegheny), Forbes Road School District (Fulton), and Pottsgrove School District (Montgomery), each of which were written up as “Failing the Students” in last year’s Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card. By starting breakfast, these 28 school districts joined others that have made the crucial link between nutrition, health, and academics.

Moving Up!

Also meriting special recognition for making a beneficial change are 23 districts that increased their breakfast participation by more than 150 percent. In fact, ten districts grew their programs by over 500 percent in 2007-08. Lake-Lehman School District in Luzerne County had the highest percentage increase in breakfast program participation, while the Altoona Area School District (Blair) had the highest increase in the number of students participating in their program compared to 2006-07.

Improvement Needed

Fifteen school districts with at least 20 percent low-income students reached only a small fraction of those students with breakfast. Nine of those school districts were on the “Improvement Needed” list last year as well. Kennett Consolidated School District ( Chester), with 1,266 low-income students, leads this category; only 6.2 percent of its low-income students received school breakfast on a typical school day. That leaves 1,187 low-income students in the district who are not participating in the School Breakfast Program.

Failing the Children

Ten 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, has the unfortunate distinction of leading this category for the second consecutive year.

On the positive side, two of the districts from the list have begun breakfast in the current school year and will not be on next year’s list of those districts failing their students! Those districts are Interboro School District ( Delaware) and Riverside School District ( Lackawanna). Conewago Valley School District is starting a breakfast program in January of 2009 as well.

“These districts are to be commended helping their students start the academic day with the sustenance they need to succeed,” said Newton. “Hopefully others on the Failing the Children list will follow their lead!

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

Celebrating 30 years as the statewide leader in anti-hunger advocacy, the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center works every day for the day when all Pennsylvanians will have access to enough nutritious food for an active and healthy life. Beyond federal and state advocacy around food and nutrition programs, Hunger Action provides Food Stamp outreach, as well as School Breakfast/Summer Feeding outreach.

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 2008.
** Will start breakfast in January 2009.

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