Why Are Tests Scores Falling Schools?

Not one parent wants to see their child go hungry. Several students do not eat during their lunch period because they cannot afford it, or unable to bring food from home for many reasons. Most schools offer free and reduced lunch programs. Not every family may be eligible for these programs. In today’s economy, even middle-class families sometimes cannot provide their children with money for school lunches. A child missing a meal, and going hungry is one too many. Funding to provide all students with two meals per day during school is imperative. Free lunch in public school should be available to all students, despite the level of income.

children would get a meal that met minimum nutritional standards which was set by the federal

Hunger has been a prevalent issue in both established communities and struggling nations around the globe. It seems that there has never been a time when every person on the planet was food secure, and while it is typically assumed that hunger is an issue only in developing nations, malnutrition and hunger are concerns even in the United States. Millions of children across the country live in homes where food is scarce and meals are skipped on a regular basis. Because research supports the connection between nutrition, good health, and cognitive ability, it is critical that methods of addressing food shortages for minor children be found. One solution, the School Breakfast Program, seeks to provide healthy breakfast meals for children

Since the implementation of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, many school nutrition programs have had challenges in meeting the new standards. Several districts across the nation have indicated a decline in lunch meal participation and financial viability as a result. However, during this time, SLA Management experienced the majority of its growth in the number of schools under contract and, more importantly, the number of meals served. Our meals have always been both tasty and nutritious. Fact is, kids love them!

In order to maximize our program’s ability to provide nutritious meals and snacks, we participate in the federal school nutrition programs, which includes the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. According to the Department of Agriculture, the National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program for public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions (2015). It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. On the same note, our program participates in School Breakfast Program. The department of Agriculture specifies that this program provides cash assistance to states to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. Both the National School Lunch Program, and the School Breakfast Program, ensures that the children receive the adequate nutrition while the our

The National School Lunch Program is an enormous federal program that has grown to become the second largest U.S. food and nutrition assistance program in both numbers of children served. In 2009, over 31 million children participated in the NSLP each school day at a cost of 9.3 billion to the Federal government. The SBP reached 11 million children at an additional cost of 2.4 billion. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the program on the federal level and provides oversight of the states agencies that are responsible for the program, in Georgia, the department of education manages the statewide program. Ultimately, the success of the program resides with the local school district or each individual school food authority who implement the program to the students. The laws establishing the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program stated that schools had to run their nutrition programs profit free and set the monetary per meal rates to reimburse the individual school. Rates for school year 2009 were $2.72 for free lunches, $2.32 for reduced cost lunches and $.26 for paid lunches. Today, almost half of all lunches served are provided free to students, with an additional 10 percent provided at reduced prices. Although schools are not required to offer NSLP meals, 94 percent of schools, both public and private, choose to participate in the program. Little

The lunch provided to students who are eligible for reduced or free lunch is their only lunch option, since they cannot necessarily bring a packed lunch from home. Because of this the USDA and the FNS have created guidelines that each school must follow when creating these lunch programs. According to the USDA 2011, “School lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat.” (USDA "National school lunch," 2011) These guidelines directly follow the standards set by the USDA for everyday nutrition and must be followed by the school. The USDA has also created guidelines for other dietary allowances. The USDA in 2011 reported “Regulations also establish a standard

The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program that operates in over 100,000 schools and child care facilities. Those who participate in this program get cash subsidies as well as food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Participants are also required to followed dietary guidelines. Meals provided to the students must meet certain nutritional standards and free and reduced priced lunches must be made available to those who need it. By regulating what the schools can serve and

The National School Lunch Program enforced a rule, which “sought to improve school meals” (United 4088). The rule includes many different parts to it, which requires state agencies to acquire and check many different pieces of data. The first thing the state agencies are required to do, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, is to “Conduct a nutritional review of school lunches and breakfasts as part of the administrative review process” (4088). By having these checks, the USDA can ensure that schools are following the dietary restrictions as well as meeting the FDA nutritional standards. The second step for state agencies is to “Determine compliance with the meal patterns and dietary specifications based on a review of menu and production records for a two-week period” (4088-4089). This guarantees that schools will follow the FDA regulations because the state agencies force schools to follow and be compliant. To conclude the first rule, the third and final action that state agencies must take is to “Review school lunches and breakfasts every three years, consistent with the HHFKA (Healthy Hungry-Free Kids Act)” (4089). This assures that schools are adhering to the FDA guidelines over the long run. The agencies check the school menu over the past three years, to make

Cause 1: What causes the poor academic performance in children due to food insecurity is that they do not eat breakfast. The saying breakfast is the most important meal of the day is not just folk lore or a buzz phrase. The article by Sheila Terry and Kimberly Kerry, “Classroom Breakfast: Helping Maryland Students Make the Grade” published in the March 2000 issue of the Maryland State Department of Education, reports that “over a two-year period, classroom breakfast schools showed a 22% improvement in that score, [MSPAP test], compared to a 13% improvement for control schools

Schools are being forced to spend literally millions of dollars in addition to their already overflowing costs of educating the children of our nation’s taxpayers. Since everyone is paying for these meals either way, we should be told that we are paying taxes to fund lunches that are so expensive because of “the requirement to offer both a fruit and vegetable — previously it was one or the other — and make students take at least one of them in order to receive federal reimbursement for the meal” (Watanabe). With all the new costs of school meals, school districts need the government rebates more than ever, so they follow the rules and make kids take foods that they

Schools in high-poverty areas with most children in need of free or reduced lunch, tend to do well with these new regulations. However, schools will less kids eligible for free or reduced lunch do not do so well, and a lot of districts in this category have dropped the program. Theory is that schools with more children than not eligible for free or reduced lunch, are more likely to eat what is served to them. “Some of our students show up for breakfast and haven’t had anything to eat since lunch the day before” (Hill). The Executive Director of Nutritional services points out a harsh fact, and the good these lunch programs bring to table.

In 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which works with Food & Nutrition Services to develop guidelines for the NSLP, proposed new regulations for school lunches in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA). The rules included calorie guidelines according to age group and also outlined requirements for vegetable, fruit, protein, and starch components of the meals. While the USDA guidelines for meals were

The problem is simply the cost of food. Parents do not want to pay the extra money, which allows their children to eat healthy. Many school districts have been working for years towards offering healthier school meals and were well positioned to meet or exceed nutrition standards provided for in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Some districts, however, have struggled to meet the standards. A promising approach is to encourage eligible schools to adopt the Community Eligibility Provision to offer universal free meals. For high poverty schools, using this new option to offer universal free meals to all students is an effective strategy to boost participation in the school meals programs. Offering meals at no charge to all students removes the

HB2650 is not the first law that has been passed in regards to concerns for the health of children. In 1946 the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program was started in the United States by the Food and Nutrition Service which is a branch of the USDA because of the low number of men who