Skip to main content
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

What Schools Are Saying About Community Eligibility

School officials around the country have explained (see here and here) why they’re adopting community eligibility, a powerful new tool to fight hunger in high-poverty neighborhoods by allowing schools to offer nutritious meals to all students at no charge.  As schools and families prepare for the new school year — and as the August 31st signup deadline for eligible schools approaches — here’s more of what school officials are saying about the benefits of community eligibility:

  • Bill Redwine, chair of Rowan County, Kentucky, board of education:

    “This program will have a direct benefit on students in the classroom because teachers know that students who are hungry or have not had breakfast have difficulty concentrating on their schoolwork. . . .  It will also benefit those parents who, in the past, have struggled to provide the money for their child’s meals.  This definitely is a win for our students, for their parents and for our district as a whole.”

  • Jesse Register, director of Metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee, schools:

    “We’re firm believers in educating the whole child and providing them what they need for productive school days.  If a child is hungry, he’s going to have trouble learning.  No child should go hungry and no child should be embarrassed about accepting a meal.  By making it universal, we don’t have to single out any child and we can make family budgets a little less tight.”

  • Margaret Allen, superintendent of Montgomery, Alabama schools:

    “Studies have shown that children who receive proper nutrition perform better in school. . . .   Many of our families live below the poverty line.  Even those that don’t, may skip meals to save money.  This will ensure learning won’t suffer because a student is hungry at school.”

  • Kim Hall, director of child nutrition services, Muskogee, Oklahoma, public schools:

    “Being able to eat a nutritious meal during the day helps the students learn — students that eat during the day are more likely to pay attention because they are not worried about being hungry.”

  • Joey Vaughn, nutrition director, Huntsville, Alabama, city schools:

    “Hopefully, this is going to do away with the stigma [of receiving free school meals] because everybody is going to be able to eat for free.  Nobody’s got to fill out any paperwork; nobody’s got to prove their financial status.”

  • Lisa Stevenson, principal of Neil Armstrong Elementary School, Eldridge, Iowa:

    “Families that don’t have as much money don’t spend the extra money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the grocery store because that’s expensive. . . .  This is an opportunity for us to get kids . . . on the right path to trying new and healthy food when they’re at school.”

  • Donna Hargens, superintendent of Jefferson County, Kentucky, public schools:

    “You can’t learn if you’re hungry so we know that providing breakfast and lunch for more of our kids is a really important ingredient and that’s just integral to kids learning.”