All W.Va. students to get free breakfast through public-private partnerships districts must create

Mason County students enjoy a meal of locally grown
food. (Charleston Gazette photo by Chip Ellis)

West Virginia lawmakers have passed a bill requiring schools to provide breakfast to every student and set up funds to collect private donations to be used solely for food. That makes the state the first to have a statewide public-private funding partnership to improve school meal programs, reports David Gutman for The Associated Press. Half the state's children live in families with income below the federal poverty line.

The program is based on one already in use in Mason County, where the Kanawha River meets the Ohio. Cristi Rulen, food service director for the district, said "They do it as a classroom and they're eating with their buddies, and it makes it more of like a family atmosphere," and "our discipline is down, our attendance is up." (Read more)

Molly Burchett of Kentucky Health News writes about the bill and how a similar measure could help children in Kentucky.