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