AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Updated 2/16/21, 12:43 p.m.
Hawaii ranked second-to-last in providing school breakfasts to low-income students, but the tide may have shifted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the School Breakfast Scorecard from the Food Research and Action Center, more than 25,000 low-income children in Hawaii took part in the national school breakfast program last school year. That's 40% of all students who received school lunches, which is below the national average of 58%.
However, the report only includes data up to February 2020, when schools across the country closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, the Department of Education started a grab-and-go model at over 200 schools statewide. Free breakfast and lunch are available for children under the age of 18, even if they are not enrolled at the school.