Overview
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows high-poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.
Schools and school districts interested in participating in CEP must apply. Approved CEP applications are valid for four years.
CEP for Participating Sites In a Nutshell
Benefits
- Lunch and breakfast are served free to all students in participating schools
- No household applications for free and reduced-price meals are collected
- No verification of free and reduced-price meals applications is required
- Potential for increased meal participation rates, especially breakfast
- Simplifies the counting and claiming process by not having to track meals by free, reduced-price and paid categories
- Benefits of Community Eligibility - Interactive Graphic
Considerations
- Meal participation level (district-wide, group or single site)
- Must cover any costs of providing meals above the amount provided in federal assistance with non-federal funds
- Non-Federal resources available to cover operating costs above Federal reimbursement. Use the USDA Monthly Federal Reimbursement Estimator to project the financial impact.
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Implications of the Community Eligibility Provision for Participating Schools and Districts - DPI Letter June 2016
Sites Eligible to Apply
- Districts, groups of schools, or single school sites with an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) of at least 40 percent based on Direct Certification (DC) data as of April 1st of the prior school year.
- Note: DC codes S, T, O, E, G, and M can be included in the ISP. N and Z codes cannot be included in the ISP.
- Must agree to serve both breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students for up to four consecutive school years.
- Residential Child Care Institutions (RCCIs) are not eligible to participate.
How to Apply
Due to COVID-19, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service released a Nationwide Waiver of CEP Deadlines. The chart below summarizes the typical annual deadlines and the waiver deadlines for key CEP requirements. While the waiver deadlines allow flexibility in meeting CEP requirements, it is highly encouraged to complete the requirements by the typical annual deadline if at all possible.
|
CEP Requirement |
Annual Deadline |
Waiver Deadline |
|
Full Enrollment Direct Certification Run for ISP |
April 1 |
April 1 |
|
Annual Intent Form |
June 30 |
June 30 |
|
CEP Application |
June 30 |
June 30 |
A Local Educational Agency (LEA) electing schools to participate in CEP must
- Run DC for all sites with the full enrollment between March 18 – April 1, and then
-
Submit the Agreement Form and Eligibility Worksheet, located within the CEP application.
Applications are accepted May 1 – June 30, 2021 for the 2021-22 school year.
Required annually - All participating LEAs must submit the Annual Intent Form before June 30, 2021 to continue CEP participation for the 2021-22 school year.
CEP Reimbursement
Once approved for CEP, each site is assigned free and paid claiming percentages. These claiming percentages are automatically added to the online claiming system. There is no reduced-price reimbursement within CEP.
The SFA is responsible for tracking all reimbursable breakfasts and lunches served. Once the monthly claims are submitted, the claiming percentages are automatically applied to the total reimbursable breakfasts and lunches.
Reporting
- SY 2020-21 Wisconsin Schools and Districts Participating in CEP
- SY 2020-21 CEP LEA and School Notification Report
- Special Provision Match Form
- This form is required to be completed annually by all LEAs participating in CEP by October 31.
Resources
Annual Requirements
- Calendar of School Nutrition Requirements for CEP Schools
- CEP Sample Letter to Households (Spanish) (Hmong)
- CEP Public Release (For SFA-wide CEP) (Spanish)
- CEP Public Release - Mixed District (SFA with CEP and Non-CEP sites) (Spanish)
- Use of the Individual ISP
Counting and Claiming
- POS Breakfast Meal Counts Form
- POS Lunch Meal Counts Form
- CEP Monthly POS Breakfast Count Form
- CEP Monthly POS Lunch Count Form
- CEP Meal Count Edit Check Form
Visiting and Transfer Students
- CEP Visiting Students Flow Chart
- Provision to non-Provision Transfer Student Flow Chart
-
Provision to non-Provision Transfer and Carryover Template Letter
- Students Transferring from Special Provision Option School Q&A
Webinars
- Strategies for Collecting Alternate Income Forms (password for webinar: 94YeVe3j)
Policy and Guidance
USDA:
- CEP Joint Letter - signed by Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, USDA, 2/25/14
- Extension of the Deadline for LEAs to Submit Applications to Elect the CEP SP 25-2015, USDA, 03/09/15
- U.S. Dept of Education CEP Guidance for Title 1 Revised March 2015
- USDA and US Department of Education release joint letter in support of Community Eligibility USDA, 8/5/15
- CEP Final Rule, USDA, 07/29/16
-
Early Implementation of Eligibility Carryover Period for Students Transitioning from provision Schools: State Agency Extension Option SP 52-2016, USDA, 08/5/16
-
CEP: Guidance and Updated Q&A SP 54-2016, USDA, 09/09/16
- CEP: Annual Notification and Publication Requirements SP 11-2018, USDA, 03/15/18
- Students Transferring from Provision to Non-Provision Schools SP 30-2019, USDA, 06/10/19
DPI SNT:
- CEP: Commonly Asked Questions and Updates DPI SNT, 09/11/15
- New Annual Requirement: Special Provision Match DPI SNT, 10/9/15
- Implications of the Community Eligibility Provision for Participating Schools and Districts DPI, June 2016