LONACONING — Nobody skipped breakfast in Mrs. Moffatt’s kindergarten class Friday morning.

Twenty minutes before school officially started at George’s Creek Elementary, students filed into the classroom, took off their coats, emptied their backpacks and began filling disposable trays.

“Is that corn dogs?” one boy asked, reaching into an insulated cooler.

“No, sausage on a stick,” said a classmate, who grabbed Cheerios and apple juice before heading to his desk.

By 9 a.m., when students stood to say the Pledge of Allegiance, everybody’s belly was full.

That’s the morning routine at George’s Creek and seven other Allegany County schools — all participants in a state program some think should have a wider reach.

“We just got recognized as a School of Distinction in Allegany County,” said George’s Creek Principal Dan Clark. “There’s no way of identifying one specific factor that’s led to our success, but the fact that all our kids are eating a meal in the morning has to be contributing.”

In a state where participation in breakfast programs is consistently low, Allegany County ranks among the top five counties for how many students it feeds in the morning.

Close to 60 percent of low-income students in Allegany County ate breakfast during the 2007-2008 school year, compared to 44 percent in the state, and 46 percent nationally, according to a report released last year by Maryland Hunger Solutions. That ranks it fifth behind Somerset, Dorchester, Kent and Washington counties.

Among the reasons those counties performed so well, the report concludes: Maryland Meals for Achievement, a decade-old program that takes breakfast out of the cafeteria and brings it to students’ desks.

And everyone eats for free.

“A lot of these kids, they can’t afford to pay for breakfast and lunch,” said Bob Ritchie, cafeteria manager at George’s Creek. “So parents give them a choice. ... This way, they can have both.”

Though schools across the state offer morning meals through the national School Breakfast Program, only a select few — 193 — receive MMFA funding. Through the national program, breakfast is available in the cafeteria, and students pay either full price, a reduced price or receive it for free, depending upon their families’ incomes.

In Allegany County, almost 50 percent of students qualify for free or reduced meals, the fourth highest in the state.

To qualify for MMFA funding, schools must have at least 40 percent of students eligible for free or reduced lunches.

Nineteen of Allegany’s 24 schools are eligible but just eight are participating: George’s Creek, Beall, Cash Valley, Flintstone, South Penn and Westernport elementary schools, Westmar Middle School, and the Center for Career & Technical Education.

Funding is the issue. Last year, the state devoted $3.1 million to the program, enough to cover one-third of eligible schools. Funding this year is 10 percent less, according to the report.

Maryland Hunger Solutions advocates say the state is losing money by not expanding Meals for Achievement. Maryland receives $3 in federal funds for every $1 it invests in the program.

Locally, supporters say the children stand to gain the most.

“These kids come in, they eat, and they’re ready to learn,” said Janice Raines, a fourth-grade teacher at George’s Creek, where 57 percent of students receive free or reduced lunches.

Prekindergarten teacher Kim Kyle said she’s noticed a difference in her students since they started eating breakfast in the classroom three years ago.

“The last couple years it’s helped remarkably with their attention and learning,” said Kyle, adding that her students are “all good eaters.”

“So many families just don’t have time to make a nice warm breakfast, or offer juice and milk every morning.”

At Westmar Middle School, about 90 percent of students eat breakfast most mornings since the program started there two years ago, said Principal Todd Eirich.

“When it was first introduced to me I thought, well, it’s going to infringe on the instruction time,” Eirich said. “But it’s really such a smooth process now. We have breakfast in homeroom. They sit down quietly and they eat.”

Allegany County will seek more MMFA funding as it becomes available, said Todd Lutton, director of Allegany County’s Food Nutrition program. Participation in breakfast programs is greatest at the elementary school level, he said.

“For the most part, eating breakfast isn’t ‘cool’ in the middle school and high school,” Lutton said. “As kids get older, they spend that time at their lockers or homeroom or in the hallways with their friends.”

At George’s Creek, which has 363 students, Ritchie serves about 250 breakfasts most mornings, he said. Entrees vary, including chipped beef, cheese on toast, toast and jelly, and hot pretzel and cheese.

“It depends on what you’re having that day,” said Ritchie, adding that chipped beef on toast is a favorite. “It’s surprising, some days we just give them toast and jelly, and they love that. Sometimes when we’ve had toast and cereal, some of these kids will eat four or five pieces of toast.”

In Moffatt’s class, several students came back for second helpings of sausage on a stick on Friday.

“I ate my food,” said Zarria McDade, who wore a milk mustache when she threw away her tray. “All gone.”

Contact Kristin Harty at kharty@times-news.com.