Wednesday, October 27, 1999
Ohio low on school breakfasts
BY PAUL SOUHRADA
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS — Ohio ranks near last among states in schools that participate in a federally funded breakfast program, according to a report released Tuesday by anti-hunger activists.
Nearly 166,000 children statewide participate in the program, which provides free or reduced-price meals at 1,847 schools, the Washington-based Food Research and Action Center reported in its ninth annual “School Breakfast Scorecard.”
That's down slightly from a year ago. Also, the 45 percent of schools that participate in both the breakfast and lunch programs is fifth-worst in the United States. The national average is 74 percent. South Carolina tops the list at 98.9 percent.
“We do know that many school districts do not know about the program,” Marilyn Sesler, public education director for the Ohio Hunger Task Force, said Monday.
State officials have been working to expand participation, but the program still costs local school districts money some won't spend.
Though the federal government reimburses schools for the meals and the state helps with startup costs, many districts don't want to take on the added expense of morning cafeteria workers, said Warren Russell, director of legislative services for the Ohio School Boards Association.
“Schools are asked to do a lot these days,” Ms. Sesler acknowledged. “It may be seen as something outside the normal educational role.”
The report concludes that the opposite is true: “Study after study links nutrition in general, and school breakfast in particular, with learning, attendance, behavior and readiness to learn.”
It listed Ohio among nine states getting an A for effort in supporting the breakfast program.
Ohio provides some money for it, and requires all public schools with a large number of students from low-income families to participate. And at any school that offers breakfast, all students are eligible. They can pay for their meal if they don't meet income guidelines.
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