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transcript
Community Eligibility Provision How it Worked in My District
June 12, 2015 Kevin Maskornick, Program Analyst, USDA Food & Nutrition Service
What is the Community
Eligibility Provision? Allows high poverty schools
to serve free meals to all enrolled students for a period of up to four consecutive school years
Individual schools, groups of schools, or entire school districts may elect CEP
School year (SY) 2014-2015 first year of nationwide availability
What Makes CEP Different?
Student eligibility for free meals not determined on individual basis
Eliminates the need to collect household applications
Relies on direct certification process and other means of certifying students without an application
SNAP, TANF, FDPIR, or based on status as migrant youth, homeless, foster child, or Head Start
CEP Benefits
Students: • Enjoy free, healthy meals
at school
• With all meals served at no charge, there is no stigma attached to a free meal
Parents: • Do not have to fill out
individual household applications
• Do not have to worry about refilling meal accounts, or whether their child has an opportunity to eat at school
Schools: • Reduces paperwork and
administrative costs
• Streamlines meal service operation
• Students spend less time waiting in lines and more time eating; they are less likely to discard food and come to class better nourished and ready to learn
Eligibility for CEP Schools, groups of schools, or school
districts must have an identified student percentage (ISP) of at least 40% as of April 1st of the school year prior to implementing CEP
Participate in or agree to participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP)
Have a record of administering the Programs in accordance with regulations
How is the Identified Student Percentage (ISP) calculated?
The identified student percentage may be
determined by: an individual participating school a group of participating schools in the LEA entire LEA if all schools participate
Identified Student % =
# of Identified Students
Total # of enrolled students
X 100
Identified Students vs. Enrolled Students
Identified Students are low income children who are certified for free school meals without the use of a household application
Enrolled Students are enrolled in and attend schools participating in CEP, and have access to at least one meal service daily
Grouping Example In this example, three schools are
grouped together by their LEA:
Identified students Enrollment ISP
School 1 60 120 50%
School 2 38 100 38%
School 3 150 200 75%
Group of schools 248 420 59%
Total identified students for group (248) Total enrollment for group (420)
How are meals claimed? ISP is multiplied by a factor of 1.6 to determine the %
of total meals served that will be reimbursed at the Federal FREE rate 1.6 multiplier approximates free and reduced % if applications were still
collected The remaining % of total meals is reimbursed at the
Federal PAID rate
If ISP > 62.5, all meals reimbursed at FREE rate (62.5 x 1.6 = 100)
Costs in excess of federal reimbursements must be covered using non-federal funding sources
Four Year Cycles A new identified student
percentage may be established each cycle year (April 1)
LEAs/schools in year 4 with an identified student percentage of less than 40% but more than 30% may elect for an additional year (a grace year)
LEAs or school(s) electing CEP may return to standard counting and claiming any time during the school year
Automatic extensions are not available for CEP
U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued detailed guidance on how LEAs can successfully implement Title I while operating CEP ED identifies multiple options allowing LEAs to meet Title I data
requirements! Determine which solutions are available and/or preferred in your State
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also
released guidance on Federal Funding for the E-Rate program SY 2015-16: CEP schools may use group claiming percentage (ISP
x 1.6)
Other Federal Funds
States have made tremendous progress implementing CEP in its first year of nationwide
availability. In SY 2014-2015:
Over 14,000 schools
About 2,200 school districts
Total enrollment of 6.8 million children
Schools participating in 49 States and DC
CEP Implementation Progress
Numerous positive stories of success from State and local stakeholders
Elections expected to increase substantially in SY 2015-2016
Progress made in addressing implementation barriers
Statutory and policy changes at State level
Alternative socioeconomic data collection strategies
USDA continuing to support and
promote CEP implementation in eligible schools across the country with outreach and technical assistance efforts
Helpful CEP Resources from USDA Important dates coming up:
August 31st: Extended deadline for CEP elections Mid-year CEP elections may be approved by State
Agencies throughout the remainder of School Year 2015-16
Community eligibility page on the USDA FNS website:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/community-eligibility-provision
Includes: Policy guidance Program requirements/information Reimbursement estimator tool Grouping tool CEP guidance from other Federal agencies Coming soon: CEP guidance manual
We want your feedback!
Please keep in touch to share your best practices, challenges, and concerns
CEP Implementation Experience: Fresno Unified School District Fresno, CA
Jose Alvarado, Food Services Director, Fresno Unified School District
CEP LYMAN GRAHAM,
MCFE, CHM, CPFM
FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR
CARLSBAD, DEXTER AND ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
lgraham@risd.k12.nm.us
62.5 x 1.6 = 100%
MAGIC NUMBER
100 meals 71% x 3.06 (Free rate)= 217.26 29% x .28 ( Paid rate)= 8.12 Total = 225.38
Roundtable Discussion If your school/district is currently adopting CEP, please
share your implementation experience in brief. What was your biggest implementation challenge, and how did you address it? What is the greatest benefit that your school/district has experienced as a result of CEP adoption?
If your school/district has not adopted CEP, please share some details about where you are in the decision-making process and what your general thoughts are about CEP. What is your biggest concern or perceived barrier regarding CEP adoption?
What could USDA do that it is currently not doing to help you with CEP election (non-adopters) or with implementation/operation (adopters)?
Questions/Comments