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10 October 2023
HAYS, Kan. (KSNW) – The Hays Board of Education on Monday unanimously approved offering free breakfast to students. The change will start Monday, Oct. 16.
The superintendent said the district, during COVID-19, was feeding kids every morning and that they saw some good things because of it. However, when full pay returned after free meals during COVID, not everyone was eating breakfast. The superintendent credits USD 489 nutrition service director Jessica Younker for bringing the idea to him. Younker told board members that participation was in the 700 to 800 range during the pandemic. She says it is now in the 500 range.
“We are hoping to promote it. We have been making changes to our menus to make it more exciting. We went a long time without really doing any change to our breakfast menus, and now we are adding some new stuff in, really listen to kids at what they want and don’t want,” she said.
Younker added that participation in breakfast at the high school is the highest due to adding a second chance breakfast. She said breakfast carts are placed in the hallways between first and second periods, where at least 100 kids are served in seven minutes.
The board will continue to evaluate the program and the costs to see how it plays out in the future.