Breakfast after the Bell fuels kids for a healthy start

Breakfast aficionados are quick to point out that you have to break some eggs to make a good omelet, and that cooking scrambled eggs low and slow will reward your patience.

The same could be said for Washington’s leisurely adoption of Breakfast after the Bell, a nationally respected program that ensures more K-12 students start the day fueled up and ready to learn.

After four years simmering on the back burner in Olympia, the nutrition program is finally coming to Washington; it was approved by the 2018 Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee signed it into law March 7.

You may ask: Isn’t breakfast already available for low-income kids in our public schools? Indeed, more than 473,000 Washington students qualify for free and reduced lunches (and breakfasts), including nearly 17,000 in the Tacoma School District.

But too many children from unstable, food-insecure households don’t arrive early enough to sit down with a tray before the school day starts. That’s where Breakfast after the Bell fills the hunger gap; schools will be free to try options ranging from grab-and-go kiosk items, to “second chance” breakfast offered at recess, to full-service meals rolled into classrooms on carts.

We only wish undernourished kids could reap the benefits immediately, or at least by next fall. Under House Bill 1508, the program won’t begin until the 2019-2020 school year.

Breakfast after the Bell does more than quiet rumbling bellies. Research indicates quality school meals help boost learning, attention spans and test scores; reduce truancy, tardiness, suspensions and visits to the nurse’s office; and defend against childhood obesity.

Legislative staff estimated the cost at $2.9 million in 2019, then $400,000 a year thereafter. Most of the costs will be incurred up front to cover start-up grants for nearly 400 high-needs schools around Washington.

The heavy lifting on HB1508 was taken care of in previous years, leaving lawmakers little to do with it this session except sign the dotted line.

Cost-conscious budget writers prudently limited Breakfast after the Bell to schools where at least 70 percent of students qualify for free and reduced price meals, although less-disadvantaged schools are welcome to launch it without state funding. (Some districts already do it on their own dime.)

Locally, kids at several Tacoma campuses — including Lincoln High and other Eastside schools — won’t have to worry about missing breakfast. The same goes for schools in the Franklin Pierce district and other pockets of poverty.

An analysis after seven years will determine whether Breakfast after the Bell is living up to expectations and worthy of continued spending.

We’re hopeful that the program, like a plate of slow-cooked scrambled eggs, will be everything it’s cracked up to be.

This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Breakfast after the Bell fuels kids for a healthy start."