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Julie Siple
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

Group will pay schools to get students to eat breakfast

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Yvonne Prettner Solon
"Good nutrition makes a big difference in a child's performance in school," said Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon. "It assures there's less absenteeism, there's better academic performance, and there's a better graduation rate." Prettner Solon served breakfast at Pillsbury Elementary School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, part of the kickoff of a new campaign encouraging schools to serve breakfast to more low-income students.
MPR Photo/Julie Siple

State officials and local nonprofits unveiled a plan Wednesday to pay schools extra money if they get more low-income students to eat breakfast at school.

The Minnesota School Breakfast Challenge will offer a 10 cent incentive for each breakfast a school serves above the number they served last year, said Jason Reed with Hunger-Free Minnesota, which is funding the campaign.

The group said it will pick 30 schools to participate and pay the incentive for as many as 25,000 meals per school during the school year.

"It's a good monetary incentive to get schools to take the challenge and increase their participation in school breakfast," Reed said.

Currently, only 40 percent of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch eat breakfast at school.

Hunger relief groups say kids often don't participate because they can't get to school when it's offered or they're worried about the stigma of needing a free meal.

"I think that we need to find ways in which to make it more convenient for students to participate, and in ways where there's less singling out of children that don't have breakfast at home," said Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon.

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Yvonne Prettner Solon
"Good nutrition makes a big difference in a child's performance in school," said Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon. "It assures there's less absenteeism, there's better academic performance, and there's a better graduation rate." Prettner Solon served breakfast at Pillsbury Elementary School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, part of the kickoff of a new campaign encouraging schools to serve breakfast to more low-income students.
MPR Photo/Julie Siple