Advocacy group No Kid Hungry Texas is celebrating the inclusion of $6.6 million for school breakfast programs in the Texas Legislature's recently approved 2024-2025 biennium budget.
That outlay will allow schools across the state to offer free breakfast for any students who qualifies for the reduced-price meals program. The funding will allow some 70,000 students across the state access to the free meals, officials with the organization said during a news conference in Austin.
In San Antonio's North East Independent School District, 2,729 students qualified for reduced-price meals during the 2022-23 school year, according to district school nutrition chief Sharon Glosson. The district served 56,338 breakfasts at a reduced price during the that school school year.
“[Covering the expense of paying for breakfast] will eliminate a barrier to children getting a morning meal while helping hardworking families cover things like school supplies, new shoes for growing kids or filling their gas tank to get to and from work,” No Kid Hungry Texas Director Stacie Sanchez Hare said in a statement.
The funding also is a small step toward providing universal free school meals, Hare added during the news conference. In Texas, one in five households with children experience food insecurity, according to No Kids Hungry Texas.
“As you've heard from the representatives and our wonderful child nutrition staff, we have dreams and goals of making this more accessible to even more kids,” Hare said.
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