Every Student In Baltimore City Will Receive Free Meals

[orangeblossom]

Regardless of income.

This is fantastic.

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-ci-school-food-program-20150602-story.html

For the first time in the history of the school lunch program, all children in Baltimore are created equal.



Beginning this week, every student in the city, regardless of income level, is being offered free breakfast and lunch under a federal program that allows school districts to eliminate a decades-old meal-subsidy structure for students in high-poverty schools.



Baltimore is among a handful of districts in Maryland taking advantage of the opportunity that was opened to schools nationwide last year. Maryland schools are able to adopt the program under state legislation passed this year in the General Assembly.



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Del. Keith Haynes, chief sponsor of the legislation, said Tuesday during an announcement at Beechfield Elementary/Middle School that the law is the "great equalizer" for city students, closing one more gap that exists from socio-economic disparities.



"We know that nutritious, balanced meals has a direct correlation to positive outcomes for our students," said Haynes, a Baltimore Democrat. "And we know not everyone has access to that."



Eighty-four percent of Baltimore students qualified for free and reduced-priced meals this year based on family income under the National School Lunch Program, established in 1946. About 13,000 paid $3 for lunch this year; the district dropped its reduced-priced meals in 2013 and paid the subsidy for those students to eat for free.



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Haynes pointed out that not only does the option, called "community eligibility," eliminate a stigma that students can feel if they qualify for free lunch, but it also eliminates barriers for students, such as those who are homeless and can't get paperwork in, who never have the chance to qualify.



"We have some students who, if they don't get it at school, they don't get it at all," Haynes said.



The city joins Somerset and Washington counties, which are participating in the program, along with one school in Howard County.



At Beechfield, the announcement was welcome news.



cComments

@gsnorris After all, it's free right? No one pays. I like it!

JAY REDD

AT 10:16 PM JUNE 02, 2015

ADD A COMMENTSEE ALL COMMENTS

7



Principal Renee Browning said she has seen her middle-school students sharing their lunches with one another when students can't afford to pay. The school offers students other options, such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but they're a hard sell to a pre-teenager.



She said the stakes of an empty stomach — research shows hungry students are at a great disadvantage in the classroom — are even higher as city students enter an era of more rigorous lessons under the Common Core standards.



"This means from Day 1 to Day 180, every child will have a free school lunch and they will be focused on their academics," Browning said.



But while exciting, the announcement surprised sixth-grader Katia Stanford.





"I think it's good, and kind of crazy because kids should have been getting free lunch from the beginning if they knew kids was hungry," she said.



Advocates agreed. The city was criticized for not opting into the program two years ago when it raised lunch prices to $3, among the highest in the nation. School system officials said then that the city could have lost some state funding if it took part in the program without state legislation.



Michael J. Wilson, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions, said his group is thrilled the city is now participating. "This is exactly what the program was meant to do," said Wilson, who led the charge to bring community eligibility to Maryland.



He said Baltimore City is a prime example of a diverse population of students the program was create to serve.



Schools and school districts where at least 40 percent of the population is considered low-income can participate.



Officials pointed out that the district stands to gain financially. Wilson said the organization estimates that the district would have received over $4 million more in federal funding had it implemented the program sooner.



In the past, the city has received federal funding based on the number of applications for free and reduced-price meals that were returned from families of low-income students.



Under the new structure, the system will be reimbursed based on the number of meals it serves. In other districts that have opted into the community eligibility option, the number of meals served has soared.



School officials said they don't anticipate any negative financial impact from opting into the program.



"This is just a great deal for schools, the school district, and the City of Baltimore," Wilson said.



David T. Clements, the single parent of two city students, said he plans to put the $30 a week he was paying for his children's lunches toward their college funds.



Clements, executive director of House of David, an advocacy group for fathers, said the relief will be felt by any parent who has to pay for additional meals.



"Given the socio-economic status of the city, it's a no-brainer," Clements said of the program. "Parents can now take that money and apply it to their futures."

[mcfelix]

I saw this earlier today and agree that it's fantastic news.

[cookiemdough]

Awesome

[winecat]

Awesome.

Did you see that a kitchen manager in a CO district got fired for giving lunches to students who didn't have any money for lunch?

eta link:  denver.cbslocal.com/2015/06/02/kitchen-manager-fired-for-giving-lunch-to-students-without-money/

[tres3]

Nashville started doing this last year.

[orangeblossom]

Jun 2, 2015 22:21:57 GMT -5 winecat said:

Awesome.

Did you see that a kitchen manager in a CO district got fired for giving lunches to students who didn't have any money for lunch?

eta link:  denver.cbslocal.com/2015/06/02/kitchen-manager-fired-for-giving-lunch-to-students-without-money/

I did. Guess, I'd be without a job too, because I would have done the same thing.

[matildasun]

They robocalled all the parents last week to let them know. The program started Monday. This year my daughter, who goes to a Baltimore City School, bought lunch a few times a month, usually when we were running late and didn't have her lunch made. We will probably do the same next year. I feel slightly guilty about taking advantage of the free lunch program, but am very glad that all students will now have access to a healthy lunch.

[thejackpot]

Great decision! I hope this type of program is extended to other places.

[gazpacho]

Great! I hope these programs continue to expand.

[wawa]

That's awesome.

Does anybody know which school in Howard?  Googles are coming up short for me.

[matildasun]

They have already provided free breakfast to everyone who wants it for at least 6 years. I can't remember exactly when the program started but it was before I left in 2009.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

My city started this this year. I think it's fantastic.

[terpsfan]

Jun 3, 2015 7:41:17 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Jun 3, 2015 7:35:11 GMT -5 wawa said:

That's awesome.

Does anybody know which school in Howard?  Googles are coming up short for me.

Probably River hill elementary. 

ETA (I'm clearly being snarky because for some reason that part of HoCo is on my nerves lately.  no real reason. LOL).  But the honest answer is I dont know. 

CHOOSE CIVILITY BECKY.  CHOOSE CIVILITY.

You are not too far off.. Homewood School on Clarksville Pike

[lilafowler]

My mom works for our public school's Food Services-they're piloting a free breakfast program at one of the elementary schools this year-she said the program is very successful (except for a few parents who were coming in with their kids and trying to take food for themselves lol).
Hopefully it will be adopted citywide!

[lishie]

Our district started that this school year. Free breakfast and lunch for all. It's wonderful.

[terpsfan]

Jun 3, 2015 8:59:33 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Seriously terpsfan? lololololol. OF COURSE.

Yeah WBAL reported the entire list by county :-)

[mouse]

Jun 3, 2015 7:26:46 GMT -5 matildasun said:

They robocalled all the parents last week to let them know. The program started Monday. This year my daughter, who goes to a Baltimore City School, bought lunch a few times a month, usually when we were running late and didn't have her lunch made. We will probably do the same next year. I feel slightly guilty about taking advantage of the free lunch program, but am very glad that all students will now have access to a healthy lunch.

I think everyone partaking helps lift the stigma.

I've had similar qualms about the summer lunch program here - they bring food and fun activities to a local park and all the kids are welcomed. But I think it's okay, sharing food is a good way to build community.

[ijack]

Jun 3, 2015 8:15:23 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

My mom works for our public school's Food Services-they're piloting a free breakfast program at one of the elementary schools this year-she said the program is very successful (except for a few parents who were coming in with their kids and trying to take food for themselves lol).
Hopefully it will be adopted citywide!

Our free breakfast is open to kids, parents and siblings. Which is how I think it should be.

[lilafowler]

Jun 3, 2015 9:32:56 GMT -5 ijack said:

Jun 3, 2015 8:15:23 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

My mom works for our public school's Food Services-they're piloting a free breakfast program at one of the elementary schools this year-she said the program is very successful (except for a few parents who were coming in with their kids and trying to take food for themselves lol).
Hopefully it will be adopted citywide!

Our free breakfast is open to kids, parents and siblings. Which is how I think it should be.

Our federal free summer lunch program only feeds kids-no adults. Is this the same everywhere? (I'd ask my mom but she's at work lol).
I called my mom for clarification and she told me they do it by income-so in the areas identified as "low income" the elementary school provides free breakfast and lunch for all (there are 11 elementary schools in this city and only 3 of the schools offer it). I think it's a little odd that it's NOT citywide.
Hmmph.
ETA: I feel it should be citywide in all schools. It also stops after elementary-no free anything for middle/high school unless you qualify for free or reduced.

[NitaX]

Our district started this a while back too. Great program.

[ijack]

Jun 3, 2015 9:44:55 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Jun 3, 2015 9:32:56 GMT -5 ijack said:

Our free breakfast is open to kids, parents and siblings. Which is how I think it should be.

Our federal free summer lunch program only feeds kids-no adults. Is this the same everywhere? (I'd ask my mom but she's at work lol).
I called my mom for clarification and she told me they do it by income-so in the areas identified as "low income" the elementary school provides free breakfast and lunch for all (there are 11 elementary schools in this city and only 3 of the schools offer it). I think it's a little odd that it's NOT citywide.
Hmmph.
ETA: I feel it should be citywide in all schools. It also stops after elementary-no free anything for middle/high school unless you qualify for free or reduced.

I'm not sure how they determine who gets to offer free breakfast and who doesn't. I know some of the schools in our neighborhood do, which is weird because I don't think it's an area that really needs it. The school my daughter attends is much more diverse and they offer free breakfast and it's for the whole family if they want it. I feel like the schools that do free lunches in the summer also open them up to the whole family, but I don't know for sure.

[Deleted]

My city does this too, including breakfast. I think it's great.

[2curlydogs]

For some reason I read the subject line as "free measles".

ETA: I blame Megan Heimer, who spreads misinformation, compromises public health, and is a flaming bigot.

*goes to get more coffee*

[lilafowler]

Obviously I find this topic interesting because of my "connections". Also my daughter is entering K in September so I'm more impacted by this.

[compassrose]

This is great news! I agree that in this kind of district, providing breakfast to parents and siblings is a great idea.

I hope they do the weekend backpacks, too.

[shell403b]

We used to do the weekend backpacks here (and school vacations ones too, like Winter Break, Spring Break) but then we got called out for not being able to be super discrete about who was getting the backpacks (it's not like you can just shove a backpack full of food into your pocket, right?). I'm not even sure how to be more discrete. So we had to eliminate the program.