Two-thirds of California registered voters surveyed in a Field poll supported a proposal to require K-12 campuses to serve breakfast during class hours rather than before the morning bell. The poll supports a bill introduced in the state legislature that would require K-12 campuses with at least 60 percent of students eligible for federally subsidized meals to offer breakfast after the school day begins.
That would circumvent one of the biggest issues hampering breakfast participation, which is that many students don't get to school early enough for breakfast before the bell programs to work. The state's largest district, Los Angeles USD, had launched a breakfast in the classroom program four years ago that accords with the sentiments expressed in the poll and meets the requirements of the proposed legislation.
However, it has faced opposition from teachers as a 2013 United Teacher Los Angeles survey found 88 percent of teachers polled preferred that breakfast be shifted from the classroom to the cafeteria. Other, smaller districts across the state have seen mixed results.
