06/03/2022
๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป (๐๐๐ฃ) ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ-๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ
Nationwide waivers have allowed school districts to provide free meals to all students since March 2020. Without further congressional action, schools must now prepare to revert back to standard operations of the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) [https://hungersolutionsny.org/federal-nutrition-programs/school-meals/community-eligibility-provision-cep/] is a federal provision that allows high-poverty schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. This option increases school meal participation by removing stigma, maximizes federal reimbursements, reduces administrative paperwork, and eliminates unpaid school meal debt. Prior to the pandemic, over 60% of NYS schools operated CEP.
๐๐๐ฃ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ญ: ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) may be a strategic way to continue to offer free school meals in absence of federal waivers for the 2022-2023 school year. While planning for the upcoming school year, we encourage schools to take a fresh look at CEP.
The deadline to apply for the 2022-2023 school year is June 30, 2022. The CEP application can be found in NYSEDโs CEP memo: http://www.cn.nysed.gov/content.
Learn more about how CEP works from Hunger Solutions New Yorkโs new factsheet: https://hungersolutionsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CEP-Factsheet-4_28_22.pdf
๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฃ: ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐
โข ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Direct certification helps determine which schools are eligible for CEP and what percentage of meals will be reimbursed at the free rate. This Direct Certification Tip Sheet [https://hungersolutionsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Direct-Certification-strategies-1_7_22.pdf] is a resource that can help ensure all directly-certified students are captured to accurately assess the financial viability of CEP and maximize reimbursements under CEP.
โข ๐๐
๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐น๐น: Beyond CEP, there are two additional options for providing universal free school meals. This resource [http://bestpractices.nokidhungry.org/sites/default/files/providing-universal-free-school-meals_0.pdf] compares CEP, Provision 2, and non-pricing to help you evaluate what option might work best for your district.
โข ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ ๐๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐/๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐: Schools using federal provisions โ like CEP and Provision 2 โ to offer free meals to all students are also required to collect household income data for state-based education funding and other benefits. This toolkit [https://hungersolutionsny.org/federal-nutrition-programs/school-meals/school-meal-application-toolkit] provides resources to help you communicate the importance of completing F/RP applications and encouraging families to submit them.
โข ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ-๐ผ๐ป-๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: Hunger Solutions New York seeks to be a resource to you as you determine which program is best for your school district.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ!
Hunger Solutions New York [hungersolutionsny.org] and No Kid Hungry [https://www.nokidhungry.org] are here to help as you navigate the CEP application and renewal process. Please feel free to email Jessica.PinoGoodspeed@HungerSolutionsNY.org for individualized assistance on CEP. Here are just a few of the ways that we can help:
โข Assist with financial analysis,
โข Write emails or talking points for school administrators,
โข Connect you with other CEP districts in the area,
โข Assess potential impacts on Title I, state education funding, and ESSA, etc.
We are here to support you however we can, and look forward to working with you on CEP now or in the future.
๐๐๐ฃ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐: https://hungersolutionsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CEP-Factsheet-4_28_22.pdf
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ง๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐: https://hungersolutionsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Direct-Certification-strategies-1_7_22.pdf
๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ง๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐: https://hungersolutionsny.org/federal-nutrition-programs/school-meals/school-meal-application-toolkit