All students in the DeKalb County School System, regardless of income, will again this year have access to free breakfasts and lunches when school begins in August.
“Due to the success of the Community Eligibility Provision last school year, the school nutrition program is pleased to continue to provide all school meals at no cost to all students. We hope that parents will continue to support this opportunity by encouraging their students to eat school meals,” said Amy Lattimore, School Nutrition Supervisor.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that allows schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) with high poverty rates to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. CEP eliminates the burden of collecting household applications to determine eligibility for school meals, relying instead on information from other means-tested programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The school system had already been offering free breakfasts under the Universal Breakfast Program but opted into the free lunch program during the fall of 2015 hoping to get more students to participate. Under CEP, the school system is reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students identified as eligible for free meals. To keep the program financially self supporting, the number of students taking part must remain at a higher level.
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