Report Shows Drop in Proportion of Students Receiving Free Breakfast At Massachusetts' High-Poverty Schools

New Eos Foundation study finds that when breakfast is offered in the classroom, and after the start of the school day, participation rates often double

BOSTON, June 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Newly released data from the Eos Foundation revealed that only 48% of students enrolled in the Commonwealth's 813 high-poverty K-12 schools* are receiving the free breakfast to which they are entitled, down from the high-water mark of 58% during 2019/20 school year.

According to Eos' 2023/24 school breakfast report card, Ending Hunger in Our Classrooms: Expanding After the Bell Breakfast to Fuel Student Learning, the decline in participation is largely explained by the drop in the number of schools serving breakfast after-the-bell and in the classroom. Most schools serve breakfast in the cafeteria before classes begin, making it difficult for some students to access.

Participation rates would jump if schools switched to the after-the-bell model, which could increase breakfast participation rates up to 80% or more. For example, Springfield Public Schools provides breakfast after-the-bell and in the classroom to 85% of students each day, including those in high schools.

"Universal free breakfast, after-the-bell and in the classroom, is the single greatest opportunity to reduce child hunger in our state, removing the stigma and encouraging all students to break bread together," said Andrea Silbert, President of the Eos Foundation. "It results in higher academic achievement, fewer nurse visits, better nutrition, and increased funding for school nutrition department budgets."

The report found that if all 813 of the state's high-poverty schools reached 80% of their students with free breakfast, 150,000 more young people would eat school breakfast each day, and collectively, these schools would receive an additional $67 million in federal U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reimbursements, which is currently being forfeited.

In May 2023, Governor Maura Healey signed into law the School Meals for All Act, making Massachusetts the eighth state in the country to provide free breakfast and lunch to any child in the K-12 system by supplementing the funding provided by the USDA for low-income children. Nearly one out of four Massachusetts' households with children face food insecurity, according to Project Bread.

A longtime funder of anti-hunger initiatives, Eos is distributing more than $100,000 in Healthy Start Grants to 109 schools and districts that serve breakfast to 80% or more of their students. Eos is also issuing $10,000 launch grants for schools rolling out after-the-bell breakfast starting in the fall of 2024.

*High-poverty schools are defined as those with 60% or higher free and reduced-priced meal populations.

About the Eos Foundation
The Eos Foundation supports systemic solutions aimed at fighting hunger and promoting gender and racial justice in Massachusetts.

Media Contact:                                                                                    
Neeve Prendergast
[email protected]
617.820.8594

SOURCE Eos Foundation