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The county school system ranked near the bottom on a statewide report card that ranked how many low-income students took advantage of a federal program to feed them breakfast for free.

Of the 26,536 low-income students eligible for free breakfast or lunch in the county, 11,166 availed themselves, according to the School Breakfast Scorecard released Jan. 14 by the Food Research and Action Center in Washington, D.C.

All told, 42 percent of the county's low-income students took advantage of free or reduced-price meals, which ranked 19th out of the state's 24 school systems, the report found.

The county ranked just above the Baltimore city school system, which had 15,337 low-income students out of 40,648 students — or 38 percent — take advantage of free or reduced-priced breakfast, according to the report.

Baltimore city began its universal breakfast program last school year for all children, regardless of income. Despite the program, the city ranked 20th out of 24 jurisdictions, according to the report.

School system leaders have introduced "breakfast boxes" and reached out to principals to help increase participation, according to the report.

The Somerset County school system ranked first in the state, with 71 percent of low-income students taking advantage, but its number of eligible students was far less than Montgomery's.

Of the 1,206 students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast, 855 took part in the program, the report showed.

The Howard County school system — with only 20 percent of its low-income students participating — ranked last in the state. Some 961 students out of the 4,710 eligible took advantage, according to the report.

For years, national school leaders have factored nutrition into the persistent achievement gap between black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian-American peers. Typically, students who don't eat regularly have trouble focusing in class.

"If children have breakfast in the morning, they have better attendance and less visits to the school nurse," said Kimberley Chin, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions, which measured the state's participation in the school breakfast program.

Some schools in the state serve breakfast on test days to help boost achievement.

Last school year, 44 percent of Maryland students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast took advantage of the program, slightly below the national average, according to the report.

Overall, the state ranked 24th in the number of low-income students who participated in the free or reduced-price meals last year, according to the report.

Operating budget hearing

The school board will hold another public hearing tonight on Superintendent Jerry D. Weast's proposed $2.10 billion operating budget for fiscal 2010.

The public hearing begins at 7 p.m. in the Carver Educational Services Center's auditorium. The center is located at 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville.

Comments can be submitted by phone to 301-279-3617, e-mailed to boe@mcpsmd.org or sent to: Montgomery County Board of Education, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850.