COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio schools recorded a slight uptick in the number of breakfast meals served to students last school year, though a recent state report says they aren’t serving as much as they did during the pandemic.

The report shows that 3,253 Ohio public, private and charter schools served an average of 452,644 breakfasts a day to students during the 2023-2024 school year, an increase from the previous year.

For comparison, during the 2022-2023 school year, 423,072 breakfasts were served on an average day at 3,257 schools.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce school breakfast report said that schools offered no-cost breakfasts during the pandemic to all students under the Seamless Summer Option, and the average number of meals served was higher than normal. The pandemic meal programs ended at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

In the 2021-2022 school year, 3,249 schools served kids 541,710 breakfasts.

The old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day may still be true: Research shows that the School Breakfast Program can help students perform better in class and become more willing to participate and make better behavior choices because they’re not hungry.

For families on tight morning schedules or tight budgets, the program has been shown to provide children diets that meet or exceed standards for important vitamins and minerals compared with those who don’t eat school breakfast or eat it at home.

The report comes as anti-hunger advocates ask state lawmakers, who are working on the two-year state operations budget, to make school meals free for everyone.

A bipartisan bill in the Ohio Senate, sponsored by Sens. Louis “Bill” Blessing, a Cincinnati- area Republican, and Kent Smith, a Euclid Democrat, would make breakfast and lunch free for all students.

Separate data published by DEW shows that a slight majority of students qualified for free or reduced meals: 56.4% in 2023-2024 and 52.1% in 2022-2023.

Schools are allowed to set their own breakfast prices, as there is no standardized rate, said Lacey Snoke, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture pays between 39 cents to $2.84 a breakfast, depending on the child’s family income level. The state pays 30 cents for every breakfast, Snoke said.

Schools must operate self-sustained operations, using the state and federal reimbursements, Snoke said.

“If they don’t cover their costs, then the school must allocate funds from other sources to cover the costs,” she said.

So what does a school breakfast look like? It can be a full cup of fruit or vegetables, a small carton of milk and an item containing grains and protein, such as a breakfast sandwich.

Breakfast menus may offer items such as eggs, nuts, or meats to pair with whole-grain option, according to the USDA.

All public, charter and private schools can choose to participate in the School Breakfast Program, Snoke said.

“As it is a federal program, all participating schools (including nonpublic) follow the same rules and requirements,” she said.

Many preschools, child care centers and after-school programs offer meals and snacks, including breakfast, through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which Ohio DEW administers for the USDA. The income criteria are the same but the reimbursement rates are slightly different, Snoke said.

Most schools serve breakfast in the cafeteria before the school day begins. Some serve it in the classroom for students to eat before or during their first-class period. Other schools set up boxed or bagged breakfasts in the hallway for students to pick up on their way to class, the report stated.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.