Maryland Adopts Hunger Free Act: Baltimore Schools Will Give Free Meals To All Kids!

Dear Commons Community,

Earlier this week, Maryland State Delegate Keith Haynes (D) spoke at Beechfield Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore to give the good news that Maryland has adopted The Hunger Free Schools Act. Haynes is the chief sponsor of the Act, a state law that allows any school and school district with at least 40 percent of its population considered low-income to offer free meals to all its students. That number means every single school in Baltimore is eligible and every student in the city, regardless of income level, is being offered free breakfast and lunch.  As reported in The Huffington Post:

“Last year, 84 percent of city students qualified for free or reduced-cost meals. Baltimore is one of many Maryland districts currently taking part in the new program.

“There is an increasing number of homeless students within the Baltimore school system,” Haynes told HuffPost. “Under the old system, if the student was homeless and didn’t have a parent or guardian to complete the proper paperwork, they weren’t getting any meals at all. Other times, families who are homeless don’t want people to know, so would never fill out the forms. This new law removes those barriers, so everyone is equal.”

The program lets children get both breakfast and lunch for free at a time when childhood hunger is on the rise and almost half of all low-income kids in America miss out on breakfast.

“It’s a win for everyone,” Haynes told HuffPost. “Students, whether they can afford to purchase food or not throughout the school year, now have the same access to balanced, nutritious meals while they’re in school, and I believe that’s the great equalizer.”

Haynes said he understands the important correlation between a healthy meal and good schoolwork.

“We know being able to eat at school is directly tied to better academic performance, better success and outcomes, and it lets students focus on getting through the day without having to be hungry,” he said. “We believe this is going to be tremendously successful for all the schools.”

“It makes you focus in school because you can’t do any work with an empty stomach,” Katia Stanford, a Beechfield student, told local TV station WBALTV.

The program will also bring federal money to participating schools, according to the Associated Press.”

This is a great move on the part of Maryland. Other states and cities such as New York are considering similar legislation.

Tony

 

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