"Community eligibility" refers to a program that allows schools in certain communities to provide free meals to all students, regardless of their income level. This helps ensure that all children have access to nutritious meals at school without the need for individual eligibility applications.
Full definition
This report analyzes the scope and impact
of community eligibility in the seven states that implemented it in the 2011 - 2012 and 2012 - 2013 school years.
Some states and districts have implemented alternative data collection processes that allow them to participate
in community eligibility without any negative impacts on state funding.
Moreover, the vast majority of students at
community eligibility schools who would not have met the strict criteria for free or reduced - price school meals are nonetheless low - income.
Under community eligibility, qualifying schools offer universal free meals without requiring any students to qualify through family - income verification.
Moreover, as noted above, the vast majority of students
at community eligibility schools are likely to be from families that are struggling financially.
In most states that have
implemented community eligibility, school districts decide whether to collect individual income data, and some states provide a model family income collection form.
Notably, the six states with the highest school breakfast participation were among the top 15 states for the percentage of eligible schools participating
in community eligibility.
The best approach to determine which students receive a fee waiver or other individual benefit is to provide the waiver to all children at
community eligibility schools.
Republicans were unsuccessful in passing the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016 (H.R. 5003) bill that aimed to reform an Obama - era program called
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
In my time as chancellor at D.C. Public Schools, we worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on
community eligibility programs so that all students could have access to free breakfast and lunch programs.
In doing so, Boston is taking advantage of the «
community eligibility option» in the Healthy, Hunger - Free Kids Act of 2010, which allows schools with relatively high populations of socioeconomically disadvantaged students (40 % or more) to do away with individual paperwork filings and simply provide free meals to all.
Houston County was the recipient of a substantial grant from the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom which, when paired
with Community Eligibility Provision, allowed Potter and her staff to implement BIC in sixteen Houston County schools at the beginning of SY 2015 - 16.
The CEP is authorized by the final rule: National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program: Eliminating Applications
Through Community Eligibility as Required by the Healthy, Hunger - Free Kids Act of 2010
Regardless of whether Title I remains in its traditional form or is converted in some part to vouchers, districts will face major challenges allocating resources based on individual student economic status
as community eligibility for free lunch eliminates the incentive for individual students to report their poverty status.
In between back - to - school breakfast celebrations and preparations for the upcoming National School Lunch Week celebrations, a few articles
about Community Eligibility Provision caught our attention.
SP08 - 2015: E-Rate Guidance for Schools
Electing Community Eligibility (PDF) This USDA memorandum notifies state agencies and local program operators of recently updated rules issued by the FCC regarding the calculation of discount rates under the E-Rate program for schools electing the CEP.
If you're interested in topics
like Community Eligibility, breakfast - in - the - classroom, and afterschool meals, don't miss these upcoming dates and deadlines.
In the absence of applications, districts that
offer community eligibility in some or all schools and depend on income data to determine funding for other programs must identify alternative data sources, which are readily available.
February 5, 2014 MDHS Testimony in Support of SB128 - Education Compensatory Education Grants
Federal Community Eligibility Provision Senate Committee on Budget and Taxation
Governor Larry Hogan signed The Hunger - Free Schools Act of 2017 (House Bill 287 / Senate Bill 361) yesterday, which will extend the
successful Community Eligibility Provision to allow more high - need schools in Maryland to provide free school breakfast and lunch to all students.
Community eligibility allows high - poverty schools to offer school meals at no charge to all students while streamlining school meal program operations, including eliminating school meal applications, which many states and localities have used as the basis for distributing resources to schools and students.
For example, Kentucky provided a memorandum to school district superintendents on data issues related to the state programs that might be affected
by community eligibility.
For purposes of monitoring educational progress or providing fee waivers to individual students, states or school districts can identify individual low - income students either by considering all students
attending community eligibility schools to be low - income or by focusing on Identified Students.
It explains and provides resources related to
how community eligibility works, how it helps participating schools and families, how to operate without school meal applications, and how stakeholders can prepare to implement the option when it becomes available in all states for the 2014 - 2015 school year.
[6] Community eligibility schools, however, may not collect school meal applications or use funds from the school nutrition account to collect individual income data.
IMHO, we should be doing free for all students... and I don't mean everyone just elects to
do Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
Our Google Alerts have been full of stories about schools across the country opting into the
new Community Eligibility Provision.
To learn more about CEP, check out the
USDA Community Eligibility Provision Resource Center, which includes webinars, fact sheets, sample letters, and more.
Additionally, by offering meals at no charge to all students,
community eligibility makes it easier for schools to leverage innovative school breakfast service models, such as breakfast in the classroom, «grab and go» breakfast, and second chance breakfast.
As part of disaster relief recovery, USDA granted free status for all students through September, giving Purvis time to apply for
Community Eligibility which was granted in October of SY 2016 - 17, and by January she was piloting «Breakfast on the Go» for feedback and testing.
Tuesday, July 14: Early birds won't want to miss the 8:30 a.m. session on maximizing USDA foods, though it's a tough choice up
against Community Eligibility Provision!
Those states or school districts that can not operate without individual student income data due to state statutes, or do not wish to delay implementation of
community eligibility until they adopt alternative methods for directing resources to economically disadvantaged students, can collect those data outside the school meal program.
Established in the Healthy, Hunger - Free Kids Act of 2010,
community eligibility streamlines school meal operations and allows schools in high - poverty areas to offer nutritious breakfasts and lunches to all students at no charge.