Local counties top school breakfast program list

Five counties, including four on the Eastern Shore, have taken the top spots in a school breakfast participation study in Maryland.

The study awarded A+ for counties that had 80 percent of its low-income students participate in both the national school lunch program and school breakfast program.

The four counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore include Kent, Somerset, Caroline and Dorchester.

Talbot County earned an “A” with a 77 percent participation rate, with Wicomico and Worcester reporting over 60 percent each.

Queen Anne’s County reported 55 percent of their students participating, according to Maryland Hunger Solutions.

Ingrid Ramos, the Food Services Manager at Dorchester County Public Schools, says a lot of their success can be credited to the Maryland Meals For Achievement Program. The state-funded program provides breakfast for students in the classroom free of charge, regardless of a family’s income.

“Sometimes kids, they wake up late…they run off to get to school, they don’t want to be late.” Says Ramos. “So it’s kind of nice that once they get to school that breakfast is available right in the classrooms so they can just eat it there. They don’t have to stop by the cafeteria or anything like that.”

Past studies have suggested students who eat proper meals have higher attendances and higher chances of graduation.