AUBURN — The number of Auburn students who ate breakfast at school in May increased, which was one goal of schools offering free breakfast to all students.

But Ward 4 School Committee member Tracy Levesque and other parents who don’t serve sugared cereal to their children aren’t thrilled about the new free breakfast to all program.

Cereal offered at one elementary school during an April 23 visit, the first day of the universal breakfast program, included non-sugared cereals such as Kix and Cheerios. But more students were grabbing the sweetened cereals offered. Cocoa Trix seemed to be the most popular, according to trays carried by students. So were Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Apple Jacks, Trix and Golden Grahams.

Some students, including Levesque’s son, are eating breakfast at home and at school, taking advantage of getting sweet cereal they can’t get at home.

“My children eat Kix and Chex. They are not used to Trix, Golden Grahams, etc.,” Levesque said. “It puts parents in a bind.”

Levesque said she was also concerned with the lack of protein served at school breakfast. More protein would help sustain them until lunch, she  said.

The School Committee will vote July 11 on whether to continue the breakfast program.

The idea of the program is to encourage more students, especially those who qualify for free or reduced meals, to eat breakfast.

A stigma from other students knowing who gets free and reduced meals kept some out of the cafeteria in the morning, Auburn Food Service Director Paula Rouillard said.

“We know there’s a lot of kids who qualify who aren’t eating because they don’t want to be labeled,” she told board members in April. If all students were offered breakfast free, more would eat, she said.

That is what happened, according to numbers Rouillard gave the committee June 20.

In May, 21.6 percent of Auburn students ate breakfast, compared to 15.7 percent in May 2011.

The free breakfast program doesn’t cost Auburn taxpayers more because the more students who eat, the more the city receives from the federal government to provide student meals, Rouillard said. The breakfast program’s cost broke even, Rouillard told School Committee members.

Not being hungry in school helps students feel better, perform and behave, educators said. Only a few schools in Maine offer free breakfast for all, including Winthrop and the Unity area, Maine Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin said in April. “We support it,” he said.

Auburn School Superintendent Katy Grondin said she is pleased that Auburn’s pilot universal breakfast increased the number of students eating before school, that it lifted the stigma of free and reduced meals without increasing costs.

Rouillard “is looking at the sugar content of the cereals offered through our vendor to make sure the cereals that we are offering are low in sugar,” she said.

If the School Committee votes to continue universal breakfast next year, “we will continue to monitor the program,” Grondin said.

The committee’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at Auburn Hall.

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