WESTMINSTER : School District Wins Food Program Grant

The Westminster School District has won a $56,000 federal grant that will enable it to expand its breakfast program to five more schools, officials said Monday.

The new schools joining the program are Cecil B. DeMille, Fay Fryberger and Hayden elementary schools and Dr. Russell I. Johnson and Warner middle schools.

When the program begins on Oct. 1, about 1,500 students at the five campuses are expected to participate, said Alita Rethmeyer, the district’s nutrition expert.

The program is designed to make sure students eat a full meal before going to class, she said, adding that “numerous studies show that children who eat breakfast have a longer attention span and can concentrate on school work for longer. You can’t teach hungry children.”

She said providing breakfast for the children is crucial because many might otherwise go hungry. About 61% of the district’s children eat in the cafeteria. Of those, 71% receive free or reduced-price meals because their families’ income is below the poverty level.

The recent grant will also allow the district to expand the programs that it is already running at H.B. Anderson, Virginia K. Boos, Finley, James W. Franklin, Iva Meairs, Ray M. Schmitt and L.P. Webber elementary schools, district spokeswoman Audrey Brown said.

The expansion will coincide with the renovation of the district’s food preparation center at Stacey Intermediate School, Rethmeyer said. The $1-million renovation is the first major overhaul of the kitchen, which was built in the 1950s.

To offset the cost of the modernization, the district will increase the cost of lunch to $1.25 for students paying the full price. Under the previous cost schedule, elementary students paid $1 and middle school students paid $1.05.

The refurbished facility will boast energy-efficient appliances that will allow cooks to prepare more meals from scratch and improve the nutritional content of foods, Rethmeyer said.

Capable of producing 6,500 meals daily, the facility will supply the meals for all of the district’s 18 campuses, she said.