The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas and is a key provision of The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA, Public Law 111-296; December 13, 2010). CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without the burden of collecting household applications. This alternative saves local educational agencies (LEAs) time and money by streamlining paperwork and administrative requirements and facilitates low-income children’s access to nutritious school meals.
Schools qualify based on their percentage of direct certification. The term identified students refers to children who are directly certified for free school meals based on their participation (or a household member’s participation) in other means-tested assistance programs, such as:
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or
• The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
Participation in CEP will provide free breakfast and lunch to ALL students in our neediest schools. At this time we have 11 schools who qualify: Aberdeen Elementary, Cameron Elementary, Carthage Elementary, Crain's Creek Middle, Elise Middle, Community Learning Center at Pinckney, North Moore High School, Robbins Elementary, Southern Middle, Southern Pines Elementary and Westmoore Elementary.
ALL students at the above named schools will be offered free breakfast and lunch for the 2023-24 school year and will NOT need to submit a free and reduced meal application this year.
Students at non-CEP schools will need to submit a free and reduced meal application or pay full price for breakfast and lunch. Applications for free and reduced price meals will be available at Back to School nights or you can request for one to be mailed to you.
Meal prices for the 2023-24 school year are:
• $1.75 for breakfast at all schools
• $3.00 for K-8 students
• $3.25 for High School students
If you have children at multiple schools, it is possible that one of your children may be at a CEP school that provides free meals to all students and another child may be at a non-CEP school which will require payment or an application for free and reduced priced meals.
For questions, contact your servicing school. You may also contact Bliss Taylor, Child Nutrition Director, at 910-947-2342 or
[email protected]
More information about Child Nutrition can be found
here.