FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 2, 2020
Contact: Maritza Padilla | mpadilla@mercuryllc.com
Sacramento, Calif. – During the California State Assembly’s floor session today, the body officially declared March 2–6 School Breakfast Week. Assembly Concurrent Resolution 178, authored by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and 60 additional co-authors was unanimously approved.
“Serving breakfast as a seamless part of the school day helps ensure all children get the morning nutrition they need, which is deeply intertwined with student success,” said No Kid Hungry California Director Kathy Saile. “That’s the reason we are so thankful to the California State Legislature for bringing greater awareness to this important issue by declaring March 2–6 School Breakfast Week and why we continue to partner with schools across California to expand and strengthen Breakfast After the Bell programs.”
In January, No Kid Hungry released a report that shows offering breakfast as part of the school day can significantly reduce chronic absenteeism. This research, which was conducted for the campaign by the University of California, Santa Barbara, revealed that when schools adopt a Breakfast After the Bell program, they can potentially see chronic absenteeism rates drop, on average, by 6 percentage points. Since accessing traditional cafeteria breakfast service can be challenging for many kids, No Kid Hungry California and its partners focus on Breakfast After the Bell as a critical way to end childhood hunger across the state, where 1 in 5 kids struggles with hunger. Breakfast After the Bell is more convenient and accessible to students and results in more kids starting their day with a healthy meal.
To help encourage breakfast participation, California’s 2019-20 state budget included $500,000 to fund Breakfast After the Bell Expansion Grants. Last year, No Kid Hungry California provided more than $700,000 in grants to nearly 100 schools that are implementing or expanding their breakfast programs in the 2019-2020 school year.
The text of ACR 178, which helps bring greater attention to this issue, is as follows:
- WHEREAS, Nearly one in five California children live in food insecure households, meaning they do not have consistent access to adequate food; and
- WHEREAS, California ranks 33rd in the nation in school breakfast participation, and only 38 percent of pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals are eating school breakfast; and
- WHEREAS, More than 58 percent of California public school pupils qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, yet many of those low-income pupils are not eating the nutritious school breakfast offered due to barriers such as social stigma, late buses or carpools, long cafeteria lines, and tight class schedules; and
- WHEREAS, Eating breakfast as part of the schoolday is associated with positive pupil behavioral health and academic performances, such as better test score results, improved concentration in class, lower rates of chronic absenteeism, fewer classroom disruptions, and less frequent visits to the school nurse; and
- WHEREAS, Breakfast After the Bell programs, such as breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, and second chance breakfast, are proven meal delivery methods that boost school breakfast participation and related positive outcomes; and
- WHEREAS, School breakfast participation is associated with a lower body mass index, which is an indicator of sustainable body fat, lower probability of being overweight, and lower probability of obesity; and
- WHEREAS, States across the nation have introduced legislation to require that schools with a high percentage of pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals implement a Breakfast After the Bell program; and
- WHEREAS, If California schools increased school breakfast participation such that 70 percent of the pupils who eat free or reduced-price lunch also participated in their school’s breakfast program, an additional 335,160 pupils would receive breakfast every day and school districts would receive more than $100,000,000 in federal meal reimbursements for their school nutrition budgets; now, therefore, be it
- Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims March 2, 2020, to March 6, 2020, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week; and be it further
- Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.