Superior School Board Calls on Legislature to Reimburse School Breakfasts at 15 Cents

Joins Growing List of Districts Asking to Fix Breakfast Program Funding

The Superior School District Board of Education recently passed a resolution calling on the Wisconsin State Legislature to include funding for 15-cent per breakfast reimbursement in the 2021-23 biennial state budget.

The School Breakfast Program is a federal and state assisted meal program for public and private schools. While the federal government primarily funds the program, the state of Wisconsin provides $2,510,500 in annual funding for reimbursement to participating schools for each breakfast served. This state funding has been frozen since 2012.

Wisconsin law says the state should be funding school breakfast programs at 15-cents per breakfast served. However, the combination of a stagnant state appropriation since 2012 and continued utilization growth in the School Breakfast Program has resulted in a meager 7-cent per breakfast reimbursement.

The reimbursement rate is likely to continue to fall as utilization of the program continues to grow. When funding was set at $2,510,500 annually for the program, Wisconsin served over 22 million breakfasts to students. Recent data shows Wisconsin is now serving over 32 million breakfasts to students each year, and this number is expected to increase.

If the state does cannot meet its statutory obligation, Superior School District’s breakfast program could be in jeopardy of being able to continue to provide essential meals to students.

The Superior Board of Education resolution directs the state to allocate an additional $2.5 million per year to meet 15-cent per breakfast reimbursement funding. The modest investment would have a major impact on ensuring Superior School District and districts around the state can feed their student.

The School Nutrition Association of Wisconsin thanks the Superior Board of Education for its support in advocating for school breakfast program funding.