Peabody schools ranked 52 of 54 in free breakfast

PEABODY — Peabody Public Schools was ranked 52 of 54 high-poverty school districts in Massachusetts for free school breakfast participation, according to a report from the Eos Foundation.

According to the Eos Foundation’s 2023-24 report, titled Ending Hunger in Our Classrooms: Expanding After the Bell Breakfast to Fuel Student Learning, PPS ranked 52 of 54 high-poverty school districts with more than 1,000 students.

High poverty schools refer to schools with a student population of 60% or higher who receive reduced-price meals, according to the report.

The report stated that PPS has an average daily breakfast participation across the district of 17% as of Oct. 2023.

According to the report, the number of high-poverty schools in the state has increased from 629 to 813 from Oct. 2019 to Oct. 2023, and the percentage of students who receive free breakfast has dropped from 58% to 48% during the same period.

President of the Eos Foundation Andrea Silbert said districts that do not have breakfast-after-the-bell (ATB) and in the classroom (BIC) tend to have low participation in universal free breakfast programs.

“When breakfast is offered in the cafeteria, before school begins, most kids miss it because they have difficulty getting to school early. This is a logistical challenge for a lot of families and particularly for those coming in on the bus,” she said. “Our research shows that universal free breakfast-after-the-bell and in the classroom is the single greatest opportunity to reduce child hunger in our state, removing the stigma and encouraging all students to break bread together.”

The Eos Foundation offers $10,000 grants for each school that wants to launch or improve their ATB programs, Silbert said.

“School breakfast results in higher academic achievement, fewer nurse visits, better nutrition, and increased funding for school nutrition department budgets,” she said.

According to the report, Peabody would receive an additional $1,178,504 in revenue from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reimbursements if PPS served free breakfast to 80% of its students.

Superintendent Josh Vadala said these numbers are “misleading.”

He said 80% participation in the free-breakfast program is “an unrealistic expectation” because currently only 60% of students in Peabody eat lunch in school.
Vadala said any USDA revenue would be used for “operational expenses, including food costs, staffing, and programmatic needs such as equipment and supplies” for the food service program.

“I wouldn’t want people to confuse revenue with profits or think that revenue generated from the breakfast program could be used for other programs,” he said.

PPS is “committed to exploring ways to increase awareness and accessibility to Universal Free Breakfast” across the city, Vadala said.

“We plan on communicating with families prior to the start of school in several ways to increase awareness of the program,” he said. “Peabody elementary schools begin at 8:50 a.m., which is very late compared to surrounding districts.”

One example PPS will increase awareness and participation in its free breakfast-program is to survey families to see how many students eat breakfast at home, Vadala said.

“As a district with nearly 50% of students identified as low income, we are committed to improving accessibility as well,” he said. “All schools are open at 8:30 a.m. for any student to receive a free breakfast. We are also working with our transportation department to find ways for bus students to receive a free breakfast upon arrival.”

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