Next school year, the Juneau School District will be offering free breakfast for all students at most elementary schools and grab and go foods where a breakfast cannot be offered.
With the Juneau Community Foundation’s $13,104 award from their Social Service Field of Interest Fund, made possible by donations that were made in honor of Julie and Peter Neyhart and United Way of Southeast Alaska’s $5,000 Community Impact award, it is possible to expand this program in August 2016.
The Juneau School District will support a universal breakfast program at Gastineau, Glacier Valley and Riverbend elementary schools, along with a program at Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School. Federal reimbursement funding at these schools should be sufficient to cover the breakfast program costs.
The Juneau Community Foundation and United Way of Southeast Alaska award funding will provide universal breakfast at Harborview and Mendenhall River elementary schools, Juneau Community Charter School and Montessori Borealis Public School. Funds will also be provided to Auke Bay Elementary School for grab and go breakfasts.
The breakfast program was brought to the attention of the Community Foundation during discussions with community members who currently help provide school breakfasts and state employees who manage the federal reimbursement funds. It became clear that federal funding is left unused every year for this program. The School District will be monitoring the universal breakfast program for the 2016-17 school year to determine whether it encourages all students to take part and raises the number of students in need participating.
The Juneau School District will cover any costs above the grant award not reimbursed by federal funding.
