Breakfast Coming To Franklin Middle School

Franklin Middle School principal RaShawn Adams talks to the Board of Education at the Jan. 22, 2015 meeting.

Breakfast will be available to Franklin Middle School students beginning in February.

The program, approved Jan. 22 by the Board of Education, mimics one started last year at Sampson G. Smith School.

The board approved a modification in the Middle School’s schedule to allow for time in the morning to serve breakfast.

School principal RaShawn Adams told the board that five minutes would be shaved from the school’s first lunch period, and two minutes would be taken from each classroom period to free up the time for a morning homeroom, during which breakfast would be available to the school’s 1,100 students.

The program would be paid for by a federal grant, said interim schools Superintendent Lee Seitz. The program has been available nationally since the mid-1970s, Adams said.

The breakfasts would be served on 6 carts, which would be divided between the school’s two floors, Adams said.

Board member Patricia Stanley asked Adams whose idea it was to make breakfast available to the students.

“I brought it up,” Seitz said. “I learned that our participation in free and reduced breakfasts is very low.”

Seitz said studies have shown that proper nutrition is important for students’ learning abilities.

“We discussed with staff what we could do, and out of that came the program at Sampson,” Seitz said.

“But there wasn’t  a request from a large group of parents saying this is a necessity?” Stanley asked.

“I think it’s a good idea to do this because all students need good nutrition,” said board member Julia Presley.

Seitz noted that about 45 percent of students district-wide already take advantage of the federal subsidized free and reduced-price lunch program. In one school, he said, about 66 percent of the students are in the program.

“Do you feel that parents have any responsibility?” Stanley asked Adams. “It sounds like you’re providing both breakfast and lunch.”

Board of Education member Patricia Stanley questioned whether the district should be providing breakfast to students.

“At some point, the government is not responsible for providing food to each and every child,” she said.

Adams said the price of breakfast should not be more than $1.25, and that selections such as pancakes, cold cereal, fruit, breakfast bars and french toast sticks would be available.

He said the program was planned after meetings with parents, students and staff.

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