#MiddleburyCT #SouthburyCT #Region15 #FreeBreakfasts
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Connecticut public school students who returned to class this fall now have free breakfasts available to all on school days. A new statewide program provides breakfast at no cost to students in kindergarten through high school. The state is providing $12 million to school districts to fund the meals.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said in a press release, “A healthy breakfast provides kids with the opportunity to start the day ready to learn and thrive, and too many of our young people do not have access to this basic life necessity. Every child, regardless of their family’s income, should be able to start the day with a nutritious meal.”
Region 15 Superintendent of Schools Joshua Smith said via email the district has seen a significant increase in the number of students participating in the free breakfast program over the first few weeks of the school year. The first week of school, 317 elementary school students, 40 middle school students and 21 high school students, or approximately 12% of attending students, participated in the program. The week of September 21, 465 elementary school students, 99 middle school students, and 54 high school students, or approximately 19% of attending students, participated.
He said these numbers compare to June 2026, when 259 elementary school students, 54 middle school students, and 14 high school students, or about 10%, participated. In June, the free breakfast program was open only to those who qualified based on family income.
Smith said, “I am surprised that our high school students have not taken more advantage of the program and expect that will change over the course of the year.”
Asked if he had seen any improvement in student performance in those participating in the free breakfast programs, he said, “It is too soon to tell. While hunger and food insecurity does impact the health, wellness and ability of a student to focus in school, I do not anticipate that the breakfast program will have a significant impact on its own. The district has a number of student supports and initiatives in place that focus on student achievement. The breakfast program is a welcome addition to the broader approach.”
Smith noted that the income thresholds to qualify for free and reduced lunch are set at the federal level and based on national income norms. “They do not take into account the geographical cost of living differences,” he said. “For a family of four to qualify for the free lunch program, the combined household income would have to be below $42,900. That is the same number no matter where you live in the country. In Connecticut and our community, that is a substantially different cost than if you were to live in a place where housing costs were less. We have many families with higher household incomes that benefit from a free breakfast program.”
