* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Clarke
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
A Good Start Helps Students Finish First - In Celebration of National School Breakfast Week, March 2 - 6, 2009
FOR the purpose of celebrating National School Breakfast Week by commending the Baltimore City Public Schools CEO and school principals for their efforts to increase free breakfast participation among City students; and pledging to work citywide with City Council District schools to overcome the obstacles to full breakfast participation.
Body
WHEREAS, Harvard medical researchers and commonsense experience indicate that, when breakfast is offered to every student at no charge in the classroom, the collective and daily "good start" leads to quantifiable increases in student performance, including higher standardized test scores, decreased tardiness, reduced absenteeism, fewer disciplinary referrals, and fewer visits to the school nurse; and
WHEREAS, In line with Councilwoman Agnes Welch's leadership and the Baltimore City Council's resolve to reduce childhood obesity in Baltimore City, experts confirm that children who start the day with a good breakfast are less likely to be or become obese; and
WHEREAS, Because of the high rate of poverty among Baltimore's students, the federal government subsidizes a free breakfast for every single student of the Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), regardless of income; and
WHEREAS, Thanks to Dr. Andres Alonso, CEO, and Mr. Anthony Geraci, "Chief Chef", the BCPSS actively promotes free breakfast participation across the City and works to provide "fresh/local/delicious/nutritious" food for our students; and
WHEREAS, Thanks to these ground-breaking efforts, BCPS has increased student participation in the universal breakfast program; and
WHEREAS, Baltimore City nonetheless still lags behind in its student participation rate, ranking in the bottom third among large city school systems, at a low 39% compared, for example, to Newark, New Jersey's 90% participation rate; and
WHEREAS, Newark has promoted and pioneered in-classroom breakfast as its major strategy for increasing participation, including grab-and-go carts, especially for middle and high school students, a strategy embraced now by the BCPS; and
WHEREAS, Although breakfast in the classroom sounds messy and distracting, that need not be the case when a school supports student time-limits and clean-up requirements in conjunction with the breakfast opportunity; and
WHEREAS, Participation counts enough to make adjustments to accommodate the free breakfast program for more and more of our students, beginning with the leadership of our teachers and school principals; and
WHEREAS, According to Maryland Hunger Solutions, a State-based anti-hunger group, if Baltimore City had reached a reasonable target of 70 children eating breakfast for every 100 eating lunch in the 2007-08 school year, over 13,000 more children would have benefitted
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Baltimore City Council commends the school system and our school principals for their efforts to increase free breakfast participation among City students and pledges to work citywide and with our Council District schools to overcome the obstacles to full breakfast participation.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution of commendation for "gains made" be sent to Dr. Andres Alonso, Chef Tony Garaci, all Principals in BCPSs with "our thanks for their efforts to date"; the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU); the City Union of Baltimore (CUB); and AFSCME #44 for "the work of their members in accomplishing full participation in the City's Free Breakfast program."
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the State Superintendent of Education, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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