Madison and Mitchell County school systems will offer free lunches for the 2023-24 school year, which begins for students on Monday, August 21st. The good news is courtesy of the Community Eligibility Provision which is a meal service option that allows eligible schools to provide breakfast and lunch at no cost, to all students in the school. The purpose of the Community Eligibility Provision is to improve access to nutritious meals for students in high poverty areas while taking the ‘red tape’ out of the school meal process and addressing daily food insecurity, student meal debt and the stigma of why some kids eat free and some pay. According to Mitchell County Schools Superintendent Chad Calhoun, there will be “free lunches and breakfasts for all”.
School system eligibility and reimbursement is based on Identified Student Percentage (ISP). The number of “identified students” consists of those directly certified for free meals based on their participation in other government funded food programs. Schools aren’t reimbursed at the free rate for all meals served unless the school system has at least 62.5% identified students. Yancey County Schools currently has an ISP of 50.0%
School districts that elect to participate in the CEP program have many factors to consider including its impact on many federally funded programs and on non-Federal funding sources including grants and revenues from State and local sources.
According to Yancey County Schools Superintendent Kathy Amos, “I would like to thank Lynn Deyton, CN Director and all of our child nutrition employees who work extremely hard every day to ensure that our students are fed nutritious meals. Yancey County Schools has analyzed the data extensively and has determined that the barriers to implementing the CEP program are too numerous at this time. The district will reevaluate the decision to participate at a later date.”
Yancey County did recently announce free instructional school supplies for the coming school year for all students.
CEP Program Information From Yancey County Schools:
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program is a meal service option that allows school districts to provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students within high poverty communities. School districts must be eligible to participate in CEP and is determined by the Identified Student Percentage (ISP). The number of “identified students” consists of those directly certified for free meals based on their participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid, as well as homeless, migrant, runaway and foster students certified by the program liaison. The ISP does not include students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals based on a family’s income application.
During the COVID pandemic, each student qualified for universal free meals and all districts were reimbursed at the free rate for every breakfast and lunch served. Districts were also reimbursed at a higher than normal rate to help offset increased food and supply costs due to supply chain issues. These temporary rates are set to end on June 30, 2023.
With CEP, the meals served are reimbursed at either the paid meal rate or the free meal rate depending on the school district’s ISP. The district isn’t reimbursed at the free rate for all meals served unless the district has at least 62.5% identified students. Yancey County Schools currently has an ISP of 50.0% so the district would be reimbursed at a combination of the paid rate and the free rate.
Districts that elect to participate in the CEP program have many factors to consider. CEP impacts the district’s Title I funding distributions, funding for economically disadvantaged students, and accountability for individual economically disadvantaged students. In addition, it affects E-Rate (provides assistance for telecommunications and Internet access), the After School Snack Program, and the Summer Food Service Program, along with participation in other Federal programs. Districts must also consider the potential impact of the CEP on non-Federal funding sources including grants and revenues from State and local sources.
The largest area of concern for many school districts involves the potential negative impact on finances, not only for the school food service program but also the educational environment as a whole. USDA provides an Estimator Tool that allows school systems to approximate their Federal reimbursements under CEP by projecting student participation. Some schools aren’t able to prevent going into the red because the Federal reimbursements they receive don’t cover the cost of providing no cost breakfast and lunch to all students. The district is required to cover the shortfall using non-Federal funds which may require the use of the district’s general fund to offset the deficit.
Yancey County Schools has analyzed the data extensively and has determined that the barriers to implementing the CEP program are too numerous at this time. The district will reevaluate the decision to participate at a later date.
