PILOT PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL BREAKFAST MAY KICK OFF

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Students at May Greene Elementary School will have an opportunity to eat breakfast at school this spring if a pilot program is approved by the Board of Education.

The board is to discuss the proposal at its meeting tonight at 7:30.

If approved, the pilot program could start as soon as April 1 and run through the end of the school year. Then, the program would be assessed, said Richard Bollwerk, director of elementary education.

"We think it's an excellent idea," Bollwerk said. "We'd like to go ahead with the pilot program at the first of April and run through the end of the year. We could work out any bugs and answer some questions we have in our minds."

Bollwerk said the number of students who would participate is in question as is the amount of time it would take to serve them.

The breakfast program falls under the federal school-lunch program. The district would receive federal money to subsidize it, Bollwerk said.

The recommended price for the breakfast is 75 cents. Like the lunch program, some students would qualify for a reduced price of 30 cents and others would qualify for a free breakfast.

"This pilot program will give an opportunity to see how the costs fare and how the program works," he said. "We'll make a report back to the board and make recommendations about continuing the program or possibly expanding it."

Bollwerk, along with May Greene Principal Sam Jarrell and food-services Director Lisa Elfrink, have set up the pilot program.

"The purpose is to see that every child coming to school here has breakfast," said Jarrell. "We don't know how many are not having breakfast, but with this program they would have the opportunity to eat breakfast here.

"I think the research pretty well details that children who are well fed tend to work longer, have better attention spans and tend to just do better in school," Jarrell said. "It would be assumptive to say they are not being fed, but we just don't know."

Federal guidelines require that schools serve milk, one-half cup fruit or vegetable juice, one serving each of bread and meat, or two servings of bread or two servings of meat.

Bollwerk said some possible menus include pancake and sausage, orange juice and milk; sausage patty and biscuit, apple juice and milk; French toast sticks, grape juice and milk.

May Greene was selected for the pilot program for several reasons, Bollwerk explained.

"We wanted to select a school where we felt the participation would be as large as it could be," Bollwerk said. "And teachers, on their own, have been providing something for kids" to eat.

Also, he said, most students walk to May Greene. Only one bus serves the school.

"We did not want to disrupt the current transportation schedule," he said. "We couldn't do that at any other school.

"Through the pilot program, we will see how many kids participate and what kind of leeway we would need to leave if we expand it to other schools where more students are transported by bus.

"We are anticipating that a lot of kids (at May Greene) will participate at the start and then, after the newness wears off, it will drop back to the kids who really need it," he said.

Bollwerk said many schools in Southeast Missouri offer a breakfast program.

"In the districts we went to and looked at their breakfast programs, it more than pays for itself," Bollwerk said. "They are used in low-income areas where kids really need it, and the schools get reimbursement from the federal government."

He said that in the future, district participation in some state- and federally-funded programs may hinge on schools offering a breakfast program.