Hoping to help families during a rough economy, the Pittsburgh Public Schools this school year will offer free breakfasts to all district students, plus free lunches to all students at 41 schools and early-childhood centers.

That's potentially a lot of free meals, especially breakfasts. The district last school year had 28,265 students in kindergarten through 12th grade; early-childhood enrollment wasn't immediately available.

Some students will be able to take advantage of the new free meals as early as today, when the district's eight accelerated learning academies begin the 2008-09 year.

The district traditionally has provided free or reduced-price meals to students from low-income families.

The neediest students received meals for free, while others paid a reduced price of 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. Students above the poverty guidelines paid $1 for breakfast and between $1.25 and $1.50 for lunch, depending on their grade level and type of school they attended.

Michael R. Peck, director of food service, said he proposed expanding the number of free meals after observing a jump in the poverty rate last school year.

At the beginning of the 2007-08 year, he said, 66 percent of students in kindergarten through grade 12 qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. By the end of the school year, he said, 68 percent qualified, an increase he attributed to general economic decline.

Mr. Peck said the true percentage of qualifying students may be higher, noting, "We still feel there's a small group we're not reaching."

Neither Mr. Peck nor Mark Rutter, food service accountant, could say immediately how much the extra free meals would cost. But they said their costs would be paid with additional federal and state subsidies, not with local tax money.

The food service program operates independently of district finances. Besides state and federal subsidies, the program's $14.5 million budget is funded with cash cafeteria sales, vending machine sales, and catering for the district and employee groups.

Mr. Peck said the expanded free-meal program the district is introducing this school year is not uncommon among urban districts with high poverty rates.

He said the free breakfasts will be available to all students at all district schools and early-childhood centers operating outside of school buildings. Serving times will vary by school.

In a memo, Mr. Peck said students who eat breakfast at school may behave better, have fewer health problems and score better on standardized tests.

"School breakfast really is the most important meal of the day," he said.

Free lunches will be available to all students at 41 schools and early-childhood centers where the student poverty rate is at least 80 percent. The district will continue to operate the previously established free and reduced-price lunch program for qualifying students at other schools.

The only accelerated learning academy not offering free lunches to all students is Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 in Squirrel Hill.

In 2007-08, the district daily served about 8,400 breakfasts, representing about 29 percent of the K-12 enrollment, and about 17,500 lunches, representing about 60 percent of that enrollment. Mr. Peck hopes the free meals will bump the participation rates at least 8 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, enabling the program to draw enough federal and state subsidies to cover the costs of the free meals.

The federal government this school year will reimburse the district $1.68 for each breakfast provided for free, $1.38 for each breakfast provided at a reduced price and 25 cents for each full-price breakfast. It will reimburse the district $2.59 for each lunch provided for free, $2.19 for each reduced-price lunch and 26 cents for each full-price lunch, Mr. Rutter said.

The state will reimburse the district 14 cents to 17 cents for each lunch, he said. The exact amount, he said, will depend on participation in the breakfast program.