Belding Area Schools Serves Students Free Breakfasts to Help Community

November 04, 2008

Beginning on Tuesday, November 4, all Belding Area Schools students started to receive a free breakfast each morning of school.  In an effort to do their part to help the community that has been hit hard by the struggling economy, the Belding Area Schools Board of Directors voted to add the morning meal for all students through the end of the 2008-09 school year.

Right now approximately 459 students participate in the current BAS breakfast program, which is not free to students who can afford it.  The school enrolls over 2,000 students, so the hope is that with the new program, more students will take advantage of the ever important morning meal. 

Few schools in Michigan offer a free breakfast program, but the ones that do have seen the benefits reach greater lengths than just taking the burden off parents.  Schools who have implemented a free breakfast program have seen better attendance, fewer tardies and even a decrease in discipline issues. 

Each breakfast will be nutritious, containing an item from the grain, dairy and fruit food groups.  The students’ breakfasts will either be delivered right to their classroom or they can pick it up on their way to class, depending on their age group. 

Funding for the program will come from money in the school’s fund equity account earmarked for food services.  The fund equity account is made up of money to be used for programs such as these that can help better student achievement and opportunity.  The program will go through the end of the school year and be reevaluated by the board to see if it is financially feasible to continue in the 2009-10 school year.