After offering all of its students free breakfast and lunch at the start of this school year, an official in the Bowling Green Independent School District said it’s already seeing an increase in meal participation.

“Breakfast was the biggest jump that we saw,” this year, said Dalla Emerson, the district’s director of food service operations, speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday.

While it’s still early in the school year, Emerson said she had been comparing numbers before and after the school district rolled out an expansion of the Community Eligibility Provision of the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

On the first Monday back to school last year, 89 students were served breakfast at W.R. McNeill Elementary School, Emerson said. On that same day this year, that number had risen to 164.

The district saw a similar increase at Potter Gray Elementary School as well, with breakfast participation jumping from 70 students last year to 183 students this year, Emerson said. Both schools were able to offer universal free breakfast and lunch this year, effectively expanding universal free breakfast and lunch districtwide.

“(The Community Eligibility Provision) is definitely increasing our breakfast participation for sure,” Emerson said, adding the district has seen breakfast participation increase in other schools as well. There have also been slight increases in lunch participation at both schools, Emerson said.

On a typical day at Potter Gray Elementary, for example, the school’s menu offers students a choice of entree, including various cereals, toaster pastries, yogurt, bagels and muffins, among other options. Students are also given a choice of fruit options between different juices, fruit cups or a fresh fruit for that day, according to the school’s menu. Different milk choices and graham crackers are also served as a grain option.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, research shows that nutrition affects student achievement. Student participation in school breakfast programs is associated with higher academic grades and standardized test scores, along with reduced absences and improved memory.

Before the move, about 60 percent of the district’s students were already receiving free or reduced-price meals. When the change was announced over the summer, Emerson said the move “just made sense” for the district.

For parents on the cusp of making ends meet, or even just any busy parent, Emerson said the change has given parents peace of mind during the early morning rush to school.

“This free meal provides that security to the parent,” she said.