8 On Your Side has discovered something that some Tampa Bay families might want to take advantage of. The Manatee County School District is offering free breakfast to all students.
This is much more than just a free meal for these kids, school officials hope that this program can improve their performance in the classroom and in test scores.
In just the past few weeks, school officials have seen a big impact.
“We saw such a difference in the students and they’re on time to class, they were ready to learn, to go into the classroom,” said Manatee Schools Food and Nutrition Services Director Sandra Ford.
Studies show a lack of breakfast means a lack of concentration, difficultly in the classroom, and it could even lead to health problems.
“[Breakfast leads to] decreased trips to the nurse’s office because they’re not hungry. And a lot of other sickness type issues may come from hunger- headaches and issues like that,” said nutrition specialist Skye Grundy.
So, the school board recently agreed to make breakfast free for every student in the district. It will be paid for by a federal grant.
“It’s definitely a no brainer, definitely, it’s what’s best for our kids and we love doing what’s best for our kids,” said Grundy.
The carefully designed meals fit the strict national nutrition requirements complete with healthy fruits and milk. And many of the kids seem to enjoy the offerings. 5th grader Horace Dozier is noticing an impact from eating the free breakfast.
“It does help us focus,” Dozier said.
Of course, we can keep spouting the health and academic benefits of this program. But there’s one obvious benefit- it’s a free meal.
School officials plan to renew the free breakfast program every year. Hillsborough and Pinellas county schools also offer free breakfast to all of their students.
Copyright 2015 WFLA. All rights reserved.
