- The School Breakfast Program offers students healthy and nutritious meals at school that follow strict nutrition requirements.
- School Breakfast Program meals must meet the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and must provide at least ¼ of a child’s daily requirement for calories, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C.
- Generally, a school breakfast will contain milk, fruit or 100% fruit juice, and a main dish or item that includes grains and/or a protein source.
- Children who eat breakfast show an increased ability to learn, better academic performance and may have a decreased risk of being overweight.
- Any school age child can take advantage of the School Breakfast Programs if their school offers school breakfast. Before the start of every school year, school districts send out a letter of explanation and an application to parents to fill out if they want their child to participate in school breakfast and school lunch programs. Parents can apply anytime during the school year by contacting the school office.
- Parents and children do not have to be a U.S. citizen to participate in school breakfast programs.
- Based on household income, some children will pay full price for the meal and some children may qualify for free or reduced price meals.
- The same meals are offered to children who pay full price and to children who take part in the free and reduced price meals program. Children who qualify for free or reduced priced meals are not singled out publicly or otherwise identified.
- Some schools offer breakfast free to all students, (Universal Free Breakfast) regardless of their ability to pay. This method of offering free breakfast to all students, regardless of household income, has benefits such as: reduced absenteeism and tardiness, fewer behavior problems, and increases in test scores.
- If a household currently receives Food Stamps or TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) the children in that household are automatically eligible for free school meals for as long as the family receives these benefits. Homeless, runaway and migrant children are automatically eligible for free school meals. Households can bypass the standard application process and be “directly certified” for free school meals. This means that families do not have to fill out a paper application to be processed by the school for determination. This is referred to as Direct Certification.
