NEWBURGH – The Newburgh Enlarged City School District is rated third in the nation in terms of its size for its school breakfast participation.
It was ranked fourth during the previous school year by the Food Research and Action Center, which surveyed 75 large school districts across 34 states to analyze breakfast participation, identify strategies to increase participation, and highlight school districts that have taken steps to increase their school breakfast participation.
The Newburgh district has offered free breakfast to all students since the 2015-16 school year and began providing free lunch to all students during the 2016-17 school year.
The Community Eligibility Provision provides an opportunity for districts in high poverty areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting or processing school meal applications for free and reduced-price meals.
“Hunger and poor nutrition take valuable time away from the classroom where scholars should be focused on learning instead of their next meal,” said Superintendent Dr. Roberto Padilla. “Providing a nutritious breakfast promotes equity among our students and allows parents to use precious time in the morning to prepare their students for school, instead of rushing to make breakfast.”
