Oakland County partnership will give more students access to breakfast programs


Editor’s note: This article was initially published at TheOaklandPress.com.

BY MARK CAVITT
The Oakland Press

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners is partnering with Oakland Schools and The United Way for Southeastern Michigan to expand school breakfast programs.

The Oakland County School Breakfast Initiative seeks to improve individual student and overall school achievement across the county by expanding and starting new universal breakfast program models in schools. Nearly 70 school buildings, that have at least 40 percent of its student population eligible for free or reduced price meals, will be targeted.

Although some details of the partnership are yet to be finalized, the county board will pull $500,000 from this year’s fiscal year budget to help grow these programs.

Oakland County Commissioner Dave Woodward said Oakland Schools will also provide funding. Although The United Way won’t allocate funding, it will provide technical assistance and individualized implementation support to the 69 schools that are a part of the initiative.

The partnership is seeking to build upon The United Way’s “Better with Breakfast” program, which has been piloted in the Hazel Park School District with experience success since March 2017. It offers new breakfast program models and was created in partnership with No Kid Hungry.

“On “state test days” all over Michigan, kids are being fed breakfast because we know they perform better when their bellies are full,” said Woodward. “So, why not everyday? It’s a simple fact. Hungry kids don’t learn well.”

The targeted schools were identified using Michigan Department of Education data from the 2017 school year, which included meal count data for participation gaps and reimbursement analysis. Once implemented, this new initiative will allow, at least, 3,500 students more students to have access to free or reduced price breakfast daily, according to Woodward.

Sara Gold, director of health and basic needs for The United Way for Southeastern Michigan, said the partnership will help The United Way bring even more resources and expertise into schools across the county.

“We’ve had tremendous success partnering with individual school districts, helping them maximize the number of students served by implementing alternative breakfast models like grab-and-go food carts,” said Gold.

Woodward said although expanding universal school breakfast programs into more schools countywide won’t be a “silver bullet” to address all the challenges that exist in the education system, it will improve health and academic achievement, increase revenue to provide better service, and make a community-wide economic impact.

The county will work with its partners to determine what each school building needs in terms of equipment, technical assistance and other support services. Woodward said it would cost around $5,000 per building for equipment, based on The United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s experience with past implementation in other county schools.

“The United Way for Southeastern Michigan will work with administration, teachers, students, and food service staff to develop best strategy for their individual buildings,” said Woodward.

The 69 school buildings targeted have been broken down into two groups: low participation community eligibility provision schools (13) and low participation schools (56).

In the community eligible schools, at least 80 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced price meals. In the other group, 40 percent to 80 percent of the student population are eligible.

Woodward said there are three building implementation strategies being considered including:

  • Breakfast in the classroom: A popular alternative at the elementary level whereby breakfast is served and consumed in the classroom setting
  • Grab and Go carts: Offer breakfast at the school entry points for students to take directly to class, and can be used as an alternative to serving breakfast in the cafeteria
  • Second Chance Breakfast: Alternative for the middle school and high school level allowing students to have access to breakfast from multiple times from multiple service locations after the bell

Details are still being finalized as to who would pay for what, but Woodward said he envisions the county board paying for the new equipment and covering most technical assistance costs. He said funding from Oakland Schools could be used to pay for any food costs.

“The county board of commissioners is expected to form a subcommittee to work out all the administrative details before initiative fully launches,” said Woodward.