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THE second largest school district in the US said on Thursday that it was doubling the number of students it serves free dinners to.
The board said its aim was eventually offering free dinners at every Los Angeles school.
It’s a growing trend: nationwide, the number of students from poor families served dinner or an after-school snack soared to nearly one million last year.
“When kids are hungry, they don’t pay attention,” said Los Angeles school board member Bennett Kayser.
“This is something that should have started years ago.”
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia began offering students dinner after the 2010 passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
Schools where at least half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch are reimbursed by the US Department of Agriculture.
In 2014, 104m dinners were served to students, up from about 19m in 2009.
