Schools

Free Breakfast in the Classroom Program Approved by School Board

Trustees voted 3-2 to adopt the program during the April 26 meeting.

Starting in September, children in the Lemon Grove School District will begin each school day eating breakfast in the classroom. The school board voted 3-2 to adopt the program during Tuesday night’s board meeting at the Community Center. Trustees Blanca Brown, Jay Bass and Larry Loschen voted in favor of the plan; Tim Shaw and Katie Dexter were opposed to it.

Serving free breakfast in the classroom to the district’s more than 3,800 students has been a center of debate among parents, teachers, the school board and administrators— some want breakfast kept in the cafeteria setting, others link the program to increased academic achievement.

Those in support said there is a deep need for the program, which would ensure that no child starts the day hungry.

Find out what's happening in Lemon Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Opponents of the proposal said they were concerned about how it would affect instructional time, and reluctant to give overburdened teachers more responsibilities, especially, according to some, one that solely belongs to parents, not the school.

The board was split.

Find out what's happening in Lemon Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I don’t think it’s the student’s responsibility how things are at home,” Loschen said. “We have to be equitable. We need to give breakfast in the classroom a try.”

Shaw saw the issue differently, offering a hand up instead of handout philosophy.

“When do we look at this and say sometimes we have to stop giving people fish?” he said. “Because when we give them fish they eat for a day. But when we teach them to fish they eat forever.”

Board president Katie Dexter was on the fence, saying that while she recognized the district was all about “health and wellness,” she also agreed with teachers who were against the plan.

“We’re a program improvement district,” she said. “Our job is to educate these kids.”

Superintendent Ernie Anastos said that because the district’s teaching staff has been reduced 20 percent over the past five years while class size has increased 30 percent, he was concerned about “adding to a plate that might imbalance everyone’s work.”

Breakfast in the classroom was proposed to boost participation in a federal no-cost breakfast program. Known as Provision 2, a 78 percent participation rate is needed to get full federal reimbursement under the National School Lunch Act. Only 45 percent participate, however, which has cost the district more than $110,000 in uncovered expenses.

The district was unsuccessful in increasing student participation with its other approaches, including “second-chance” breakfast, where tardy students can eat packaged meals in the classroom, and “grab and go,” where carts are placed near an entrance and students go to a designated area to eat.

When the new school year starts, breakfast, such as cereal and milk or pancakes and juice, according to Robin McNulty, the district’s director of nutrition services, will be served to every child in every classroom. The food offered will be different each day and rotate on a two-week cycle. The program won’t start in every school at the same time, she said, but roll out across the K-8 district’s seven schools.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here