Declaring March 6-10, 2017, National School Breakfast Week in Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Free school breakfast is a significant component in the health and academic achievement of students; and

WHEREAS, The school breakfast program helps improve students’ concentration, class participation, and fosters a better overall learning environment in the classroom; and

WHEREAS, Studies have shown that consuming breakfast reduces tardiness and disciplinary referrals; and

WHEREAS, Studies also suggest that children who eat breakfast have better nutrition which leads to healthier food choices throughout the day and healthier body weights; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia School District has provided these very important benefits to thousands of Philadelphia children by serving 50,159 breakfasts and 86,006 lunches in November 2016, the latest figures available; and

WHEREAS, 22.4 percent of Philadelphia children are food insecure, which means they have limited or uncertain access to adequate food; and

WHEREAS, Many Philadelphia children are highly dependent upon school meals as demonstrated by the fact that when a January 2016 snowstorm shut down schools for two days, phones at the City’s anti-hunger organizations rang frequently due to families with school-aged children calling for food; and

WHEREAS, The School Breakfast Program can help to ensure that all children who experience food insecurity and their counterparts become healthier and achieve their academic potential; and

WHEREAS, In 1991, advocates and the School District won federal approval to ensure that Philadelphia students in high-poverty schools are automatically eligible for free school breakfast, so no student would be discriminated against due to their family’s socioeconomic status or face barriers to access; and

WHEREAS, When this “community eligibility” status was threatened in 2010, despite being widely regarded as a model that should be replicated, a coalition again mobilized successfully to save the program; and

WHEREAS, While 100% of Philadelphia students qualify for free breakfast due to the hard work of those advocates, only 39.4% receive it; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia schools have made progress in serving Philadelphia children school breakfasts and must continue towards the goal of ensuring that all who want a school breakfast are able to get one; and

WHEREAS, Using best practices for the delivery of school breakfasts can have a significant impact, for example 39 Philadelphia District schools have breakfast participation rates higher than 70%, and many of those schools use programs like Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab and Go Breakfast or Second Chance Breakfast; and

WHEREAS, Given rumors of potential cuts to federal funding for the School Breakfast Program, there is continued need to be vigilant in protecting this crucial resource for our City’s and nation’s youth; and

WHEREAS, National School Breakfast Week is an opportunity for Philadelphia to recognize the important role that school breakfast plays in providing for a healthy and successful future to Philadelphia children, and to commit that we all work hard to ensure that every student has convenient and easy access to school breakfast; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the City of Philadelphia hereby declares March 6-10, 2017, National School Breakfast Week in Philadelphia.

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