Virginia Schools Find the Key to Better Attendance: A Free Morning Meal
Free school breakfast programs in Virginia are helping to combat student absenteeism. Here’s how.
In Virginia, free school breakfast programs are doing more than just feeding the kids—they’re also reducing chronic absenteeism rates. According to the Virginia Department of Education, “Chronic absenteeism decreased from 20% in 2022-2023 to 14.8% in 2024-2025, which is a 26% reduction to date. All K-12 students had 2,098,669 fewer absent days which led to an additional 14,690,683 hours of instruction for Virginia students.” While a variety of factors contribute to the decrease, one of the primary driving forces has been the accessibility of free, nutritious food for thousands of students across the state.
No Kid Hungry Virginia reported that since Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration began its ALL in VA plan in 2023, more schools have received funds to provide free breakfasts for students. This, in turn, gives them the fuel they need to focus on their studies and make it to class on time. A report studying the impact of free school breakfast models pointed out that this happens because “School breakfast has been linked to student success and serving breakfast after the bell is anecdotally an effective approach in Virginia, most notably in this report with schools having the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students.”
Around 388,172 students received free meals through school breakfast programs in 2024-2025, spanning across 1,200 public schools in Virginia. The director of No Kid Hungry Virginia, Sarah Steely, spoke with 6 News Richmond about this initiative, saying, “It’s a strategy that is there, but what matters the most is giving breakfast the attention it deserves. Making sure that school breakfast is an intentional part of the school day not just an afterthought.”
For food service workers providing these meals, the importance of this program was noticeable immediately.
Food service workers provide students with nutritious meals, and encouragement
When 6 News Richmond spoke with food service workers about the connection between free breakfast programs and a reduction in chronic absenteeism rates, the workers said that providing meals to students has always been an essential part of their learning process. Cynthia Atkins, who has been working in Holton Elementary’s cafeteria for the last 11 years, told the outlet, “I can tell what they need and that they might be hungry, because I don’t know when a child has had their last meal. I really don’t.” She added, “I tell the children you have to eat because you cannot learn. You cannot study if you’re not eating a breakfast.”
Shannon Ebron, the Richmond Public Schools Nutrition Services Director, similarly understands the program’s impact. That’s why she’s been championing the cause since 2016, when her district began offering free breakfast through the Community Eligibility Program. Speaking about having access to nutritious foods at no cost, Ebron said, “It helps them [the students] to learn. It helps them to focus. They’re ready and they’re energized for their day. They’re doing well on their tests. They’re doing better in school. School meals are a huge part of a student’s day.”
An equally important part of this equation for the Richmond Public Schools system is that food is still provided for children who are running late for class. “Breakfast After The Bell” carts food directly into classrooms and serves meals at kiosks to give students a chance to eat between when they arrive and when lunch is served.
“The students rely on these meals every day. We serve all of our meals for free to all of our students, so you just have to show up to the line,” Ebron told 6 News Richmond. She added, “We know that sometimes our students don’t get all the nutrition that they need in the day, maybe at home or from other sources, but we’re here to fill in those gaps.”
These programs have decreased school absenteeism rates
According to Sarah Steely, the director of No Kid Hungry Virginia, chronic absenteeism fell to 14.8% after free school breakfast programs were introduced across the state. She said, “Virginia saw some of the largest growth we’ve ever seen in the last 10 years, just recently, and it did line up with the work that the Youngkin administration did around reducing chronic absenteeism.” These numbers are noticeable in Richmond, where percentages have dropped by seven points over the previous three years, and in Henrico as well—its absenteeism rate dropped from 19% in 2022 to 14% in 2025.
Other areas, like Hanover and Chesterfield, are following suit. Hanover Schools dropped from 8% in 2022 to 7% in 2025, and Chesterfield went from 20% in 2022 to 16% in 2025. The hope is that, over time, chronic absenteeism will continue to decrease as children are consistently provided free meals to benefit their brains, bodies, and their learning.
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