SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today that 52 grantees will share more than $1 million in start-up and expansion grants for the School Breakfast and Summer Food Service Programs. For the list of grantees, please visit Funding Results: School Breakfast and Summer Food Start-up or Expansion.

"The Governor and I agree on the importance of ensuring that undernourished students have access to School Breakfast and Summer Food Service Program services," said O'Connell. "Access to nutritious meals through these programs is a critical component of our efforts to boost academic achievement because children may have difficulty concentrating on learning and studying when they are hungry."

"No child should ever come to school on an empty stomach, but it is a sad reality that more than half the children in California qualify for free and reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. These grantees were selected because they had the greatest need and the best plans to initiate, expand, and sustain these meal programs that are so important to the health and academic achievement of children," added O'Connell.

California Education Code Section 49550.3 authorizes the California Department of Education to offer these competitive grants of up to $15,000 per site. The annual Budget Act authorizes $1,017,000 of continued funding for this purpose. Funding must be used for the start-up or expansion of the federal School Breakfast Program serving students in kindergarten through grade twelve or the Summer Food Service Program serving children and youth nineteen years of age and under, during school breaks. Local educational agencies were eligible to apply for the grants. Breakfast grant applicants had to have at least 20 percent of enrolled students eligible for free or reduced-price meals and summer food grant applicants must be eligible to participate in the Summer Food Service Program.

School districts commonly expand their Summer Food Service Program operations by opening sites at local community-based non-profit agencies.

"We applaud the community collaboration inherent in district proposals to open new summer feeding sites at non-profit program sites where children customarily congregate in the summer. One of the best strategies for expanding participation in both the Breakfast and Summer Food Service Programs is to 'go to where the kids are,'" explained O'Connell.

After a rigorous review process, applicants were scored on their budget proposals that identified equipment purchases, outreach and promotion of the feeding programs, training, and other costs. They were awarded extra points for developing innovative strategies designed to encourage children to participate in meal programs. Grantees must also offer a breakfast or summer feeding program for three consecutive years. 

For more information on the School Breakfast Program and Summer Food Service Program Start-up or Expansion grants, please visit Past Funding Profile (ID 1106): School Breakfast and Summer Food Start-up or Expansion.