Grassroots community efforts alone are not enough to sustain school nutrition programs that improve student attendance and academic performance, a report to the Edmonton public school board said.

The United Conservative Party government will continue funding a school nutrition program this year that feeds about 35,000 Alberta children one meal a day.

As questions about the future of the NDP-created $15.5-million program have swirled for months, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange told school divisions and other educational organizations on Monday they can all expect the same level of nutrition program funding this school year.

Distroscale

“We recognize that good nutrition positively impacts student learning,” LaGrange said in an email, obtained by Postmedia.

It was welcome news for school divisions who have been making best-guess budget decisions in the absence of a provincial budget

Edmonton Catholic school board chairwoman Laura Thibert said Monday afternoon her fellow trustees are “extremely pleased” to see the funding continue. There are 1,051 students at four Catholic division schools benefiting from the program, she said in a statement.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

“Students fuel their bodies with nutritious food each day which enhances their learning and success in the classroom,” she said.

Said Edmonton public school board chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks in a Monday statement: “We know how strong the connection between nutrition and a student’s ability to learn is, and are glad our government also understands this connection.”

Calgary Board of Education chairwoman Marilyn Dennis said some children arrive at Calgary’s public schools without having eaten breakfast, or without a lunch.

“Kids can’t learn when they’re hungry,” Dennis said Monday. “We obviously value the program because it just provides us with another very practical tool we can use to support students and their learning.”

She’d like to see more predictability from government about the program’s future.

Better attendance, behaviour

The development comes just as Edmonton public school trustees will discuss a report Tuesday on the importance of that division’s nutrition programs.

Grassroots community efforts alone are not enough to sustain school nutrition programs that improve student attendance and academic performance, the report said.

“In the absence of a systemic response, there will be schools struggling to provide access to adequate nutritional support for their students,” said the administrative report.

Since the former NDP government first introduced a pilot provincial school nutrition program in 2016, the funding for the program has grown more than fourfold. In Edmonton public, the provincial program began in two schools with high numbers of vulnerable students. By 2018, funding from the Alberta Education School Nutrition Program had expanded to 22 division schools.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

While the program had not been publicly targeted for elimination, the new United Conservative Party government is expected to bring forward a fall budget that will include cutbacks and ask school boards to find efficiencies.

The school division’s 2019-20 budget assumed its $1.2 million of provincial nutrition funding program would continue this year.

Schools not funded by the provincial nutrition program have for years cobbled together arrangements with community organizations to ensure hungry kids are fed, the report said. It tallied 61 organizations working in partnership with 77 schools to offer nutritious food last year, including the 22 provincially funded programs.

Research from inside and outside the school division highlighted benefits of a school breakfast program, such as fewer student discipline problems, improved behaviour, better attendance and learning, and improved psychosocial well-being.

School nutrition programs ‘essential,’ report says

The provincial program also helped schools set up kitchens, buy equipment and fund workers who are properly trained in safe preparation, handling and service of food, the report said. It provided food that aligned with provincial nutrition guidelines and helped children learn about healthy eating and portion sizes.

The report noted an estimated 40,000 Edmonton children live in poverty and said, in some communities, the need is far beyond one or two students who forgot their lunch at home. A formal school nutrition program is “essential” for students to succeed, it said.

It costs an average of $1.62 to prepare and serve each child a nutritional breakfast each day, the report said. Given the planning, staff and volunteers required to run the programs, schools don’t have the money or the knowledge to run them on their own.

Public school board chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks was unavailable for an interview about the report Monday.