Sophia Sousa

News Writer

On Oct. 24, 2023, Governor Roy Cooper announced that he would direct $1.4 million in federal funding toward North Carolina school breakfast programs. Cooper made this announcement at Glenn Elementary School in Durham, stating, “A child who is hungry can’t learn and many children can’t or won’t eat when they have to get up so early. Innovative efforts that get breakfast to children in the classroom are proven to encourage them to eat, which will improve their educational success.” Cooper included this in his 2023-2025 recommended budget to offset spending for students eligible for reduced-price lunches in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. 

According to the press release from Governor Cooper’s office, “Research shows that eating a healthy school breakfast and lunch improves student attendance, discipline, and academic performance.” As reported by Laura Brown for The 74, Glenn Elementary School principal Matthew Hunt said the performance grade has increased by 15 points since innovating the breakfast programs two years ago. This effort toward more breakfast programs will predominantly assist schools with high populations of low-income students and students who don’t eat before coming to school. Cooper will partner with the North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH) and the Carolina Hunger Initiative (CHI) for this program. The funds will provide up to $50,000 per school nutrition program, as WFMY News’ Teyah Glenn reported on Oct. 24, 2023.

The NCAH, whose main priorities are to increase equitable policies that reduce health disparities, prevent chronic disease, and promote health, is partnering with CHI, whose priority is to increase access to healthy food for North Carolinians. These groups are tasked with distributing the funding. That process involves assisting schools as they implement innovative school breakfast models, such as Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab and Go Breakfast, and Second Chance Breakfast. In Breakfast in the Classroom, students or staff deliver breakfasts to classrooms; Grab and Go consists of students picking up packaged breakfast from a mobile cart in areas that are convenient to them as they go to class, and Second Chance Breakfast allows students to eat breakfast during a break between first and second period.

Cooper’s press release states, “These innovative school breakfast models have been shown to increase school breakfast participation,” which contributes to engagement and learning in the classroom throughout the day. Schools that offer free school breakfast and lunch to all students through the federal Community Eligibility Provision program for the first time during the 2023-24 school year will be given priority for the grants. All school districts in North Carolina currently operating the National School Breakfast Program are eligible to apply. All schools must submit their applications by Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, and applicants will be notified about the decision by Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.

With the partnerships and new grants, the NCHA and CHI hope these breakfast programs will help students’ health and engagement in the classroom and make a difference in students’ experience in school. Morgan Wittman Gramann, executive director of NCAH said, “We are grateful for the opportunity to support school nutrition programs in implementing innovative school breakfast models. We can all agree that no child should go hungry, and we all benefit when every child has access to the nutrition they need to reach their full potential.” Lou Anne Crumpler, director of the Carolina Hunger Initiative, said, “From reducing chronic absenteeism to improving reading achievement, small changes to how school breakfast is served can make big impacts on student success. In recent years, more than 60 percent of NC’s public-school students were eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, showing the big difference the programs make on children in need.”