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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: More MI Kids Start School Day with Healthy Breakfast

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015   

LANSING, Mich. - It's the most important meal of the day, and a new report finds that more Michigan children in high-poverty areas are starting the school day with a healthy breakfast.

According to the Food Research and Action Center, nearly 330,000 kids across the state took part in the federal School Breakfast Program last school year, up about 2 percent from the previous year. Justin Rumenapp, director of Michigan Hunger Solutions said school districts are getting creative in the options they offer.

"They can do a 'grab-and-go' breakfast and then eat it on the way to their locker, or eat it in the classroom," he said. "Or in districts where there isn't a lot of time between when the bus arrives and class starts, they do breakfast on the bus."

Rumenapp said the trend is positive, but there is still much room for improvement in the state. Right now, about 55 Michigan kids receive free breakfast for every 100 who also receive free lunch. He added that the state would be eligible for millions of additional federal dollars for the food programs if it could bring the ratio up to 70 out of 100.

One place where that goal is being met is Detroit, which the report ranks in the top 10 for breakfast participation in large school districts. Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, said that's in part because of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program called Community Eligibility, which allows schools to feed all students free of charge if most of them are low-income.

"The advantage of this is, it eliminates the stigma of these programs being seen as 'for poor kids.' It eliminates the differential between what kids are eating. It eliminates paperwork," he said. "It's just fabulous all around to offer meals to all kids for free."

In addition to reducing behavioral issues and improving classroom performance, Rumenapp said, the School Breakfast Program is one way to help families.

"A lot of these families are working in high-poverty areas, two or three jobs," he said. "It also helps these families stretch their grocery budgets, and the unfortunate fact, for the most 'in need' of Michigan's children, is that without the option to eat breakfast at school, they might not get a breakfast."

School districts have until the end of June to sign up for the Community Eligibility Program. The report and Community Eligibility information are online at frac.org.


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