Over 162,000 Queens Students Losing Free School Breakfasts

Two-thirds of the Queens students eligible to participate in a federally-funded school breakfast program are not getting their morning meals because the Department of Education has not fully implemented the food plan it was claimed in a study released by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.
Only 28,555 students just 14.9% of the 191,000 eligible in Queens currently receive the free or reduced cost meals. Over 162,000 students are still eligible for free breakfasts, while another third may also be eligible for reduced-cost meals.
The report also revealed that Queens 291,000 students have the lowest participation rate of schools in New York City, possibly, the lowest in New York State. The school breakfast program, co-sponsored by the late State Senator Leonard Stavisky more than 20 years ago, often provides the only morning nutrition some students receive before going to school.
This lack of involvement has also become very costly. A recent study issued by the Community Food Resource Center (CFRC) charged that New York States non-compliance is costing taxpayers needed federal funding. CFRC has also estimated that by increasing the local schools participation in the school breakfast program reimbursements from the state and federal governments will also increase. In Queens alone, the present federal and state reimbursement schedules could generate payments of an estimated $42.1 million.
According to the report, the federal and state governments reimburse local schools a total of $1.28 for every free meal served, $1.04 for every reduced price meal, and 22-1/4 cents for every paid meal. In addition, some Queens schools, with a high percentage of low income students are eligible for "severe need" federal reimbursement rates which are 23 cents higher than regular rates.
A concerned Queens Borough President Helen Marshall has already asked Evita Belmonte, the Queens member of the citys newly-formed Panel for Education, to seek the means to upgrade and expand the boroughs participation in this needed program at its coming November meeting. "It is very distressing that the county with the greatest number of overcrowded classrooms has the fewest percentage of students participating in a federally- and state-funded program," stated Marshall.
The 50-page report also charged that New York City is not doing enough to encourage students to take part in the breakfast program, and that the city Department of Education had to raise the current participation beyond the current 14.9% of Queens children who come from low income families.
Gotbaum cited a 1989 study by the American Journal of Diseases of Children which found that "participation in the school breakfast program is associated with significant improvements in academic functioning among low-income elementary school children." Other studies also show that participating kids have shown significant improvement in their math grades, and decreased absenteeism and tardiness.
She cited three major reasons for low participation levels of Queens youngsters:
Social stigma of participating in a low-income program.
Failure of schools to fit breakfast program into the morning schedule.
Competitive food sources, such as vending machines.
The report highlighted the successful Maryland Meals for Achievement pilot program that provided free breakfasts to all students who ate at their desks while the teachers took attendance. An analysis by the Harvard Medical School reported a threefold increase in participation, a significant decrease in disciplinary suspensions (down from 4.4 to 2.8 days a month), and an 8% drop in lateness.
While programs developed by Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts raised pupil participation by as much as 20%, New Yorks breakfast registration dropped 1%. In addition, while these states have recently developed funding schedules for expanded breakfast programs, New York State has initiated no efforts to raise participation levels.
"No child in New York City should begin the day hungry and unable to learn," declared Gotbaum, "especially when the benefits of breakfast are so well documented and when tools such as the school breakfast program exist to help alleviate the problem."