Report highlights opportunity to expand school breakfast programs

ATHOL – As Massachusetts takes a closer look at school breakfast access through a new study by the Eos Foundation, the Athol-Royalston Regional School District reports steady participation.

In November, the foundation released “Ending Hunger in Our Schools with Breakfast in the Classroom,” a statewide report examining how high-poverty districts can boost participation by serving breakfast after the start of the school day.

According to the report, shifting breakfast into classrooms could allow schools across Massachusetts to serve breakfast to as many as 303,000 additional students each day, helping reduce hunger and support learning.

“We are always looking to expand participation. We constantly ask students what they would like to see at breakfast if possible.”

Food Service Director Carolyn Brown

ARRSD’s breakfast program has direct ties to the Eos initiative. Food Service Director Carolyn Brown said the district launched the program with support from an Eos Foundation grant, which was used to purchase classroom bags and carts. A second Eos grant three years later helped expand and upgrade that program.

“We are extremely pleased with how the breakfast program has progressed in the ARRSD since its inception,” Brown said.

Brown said the district now offers several after-the-bell breakfast options, with different models used at each building. Royalston Community School serves breakfast in classrooms, Athol Community Elementary School uses a ‘grab and go’ setup, and both the middle and high schools offer before-school and ‘second-chance’ breakfasts.

“The number of breakfasts served has increased and remains at a steady level,” Brown said.

District participation in before-school breakfast between 2016 and 2018 was about 40%, she noted, with current rates higher.

“The high school and middle school do 50 to 60%. ACES and RCS do around 70%,” Brown said.

Students have also shared how the program affects their mornings.

“My staff and I have had students say they enjoy breakfast and it makes their brain wake up,” she added.

Brown said the district continues to update the program based on student feedback.

“We are always looking to expand participation. We constantly ask students what they would like to see at breakfast if possible,” she said.

No changes are planned at this time, Brown said, though the program will be reevaluated at the end of the school year.

Franklin County schools

Dr. Elizabeth Zielinski, superintendent of the Ralph C. Mahar Regional and Union 73 school districts, said 381 Orange Elementary School students — or 78% of enrollment — participate in breakfast in the classroom, a 9% increase from the previous school year.

“More students partake when all classrooms have breakfast at the same time,” she said. “When it’s in the cafe, not all students choose to eat.”

Zielinski added that 118 Ralph C. Mahar Regional School students participate in breakfast in the cafeteria, 21% of the enrollment and a 2% increase over the previous school year.

“It’s not a big increase,” she said, adding that it is about average compared to other school districts.

Greenfield ranks seventh statewide among high-poverty districts, serving breakfast to 61% of students. Raising participation to 80% would allow the district to reach 379 more students each day and draw an additional $193,145 in USDA reimbursement revenue — federal dollars currently being forfeited that could be reinvested directly into student support.

Superintendent Roland Joyal explained that the school district’s offering of both free lunch and breakfast has served as a tremendous benefit to student health and focus.

“As seen by the numbers that we’re giving out, the meals have been received very well. We know our kids are happy to get it,” Joyal said. “We saw what happened with the SNAP benefits in November being put on hold and this is just a great opportunity for families to save a few extra dollars. It also helps is with our students — when they come to school, they have the opportunity to eat and it gets them ready for the day.”

Joyal noted that for years, when students went to the nurse’s office, complaining of a headache or stomach ache, one of the first questions the nurses would ask was whether the student had eaten breakfast. He said the majority of the time, the answer was “no.”

“Now they can put a little something in their stomachs and they’re ready to go learn and pay attention in class,” he said. “It had great impacts on not only providing students with food, but also academically.”

Gill-Montague, ranked 19th, currently reaches 54.1% of students. By moving to BIC, the district has the opportunity to serve 227 more students and secure an estimated $116,042 in USDA reimbursements.

Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School Principal Loren Messina explained that the district has two breakfast times available for students, one before school, then after the day begins around 9 a.m.

While she said she hasn’t looked over the Eos report, Messina said breakfast access has been discussed before. To help make sure students are getting food, Messina said the students can eat their meals inside the classroom when appropriate, and before the day starts, they can eat inside the cafeteria. Last year, they piloted a program where breakfast was delivered to classrooms, but waste disposal issues inside the classrooms limited the program from going further.

According to Darius Modestow, superintendent of the Frontier Regional School District, every school in the district provides breakfast to students in the cafeteria and adjusts access to these meals based on students’ ages and “[levels] of independence.” With these cafeteria meals in place, Modestow said the district is not planning to bring breakfast into its classrooms.

“While I certainly recognize the benefits of a breakfast-in-the-classroom model, we are fortunate that it is not necessary in our district,” Modestow wrote in an email. “As a district, we remain focused on ensuring there are no barriers to students accessing breakfast, and we have also built in additional support during mid-morning elementary snack times to make sure food is available for all students.”

Staff Writers Erin-Leigh Hoffman, Domenic Poli, Aalianna Marietta and Anthony Cammalleri contributed to this report.