More Tennessee schools now eligible for free meal programs

More school districts in Tennessee are now able to serve free meals to students, thanks to recent changes in federal rules governing free meal program eligibility.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, those changes impact the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, which was authorized through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and allows schools to eliminate the need for household income applications for free or reduced breakfast and lunch.

In order to be eligible, a school, group of schools or district must meet a certain threshold of enrolled students in need. Under the old guidelines, schools had to have 40 percent of enrolled students receiving free or reduced meals to apply for the program. That number is now down to 25 percent, according to the new rules that took effect in the fall.

Tennessee also joined 13 other states last year in using Medicaid data to determine CEP eligibility, which further enables more districts to qualify for the program. Among the school districts that have announced their CEP eligibility in recent weeks are Kingsport City Schools, Overton County Schools and Tullahoma Schools.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokesperson from the nonprofit School Nutrition Association, told Tennessee Firefly that the new rules come after school districts became accustomed to using COVID-19 federal relief funds to provide free meals to students during the pandemic. School districts are now turning back more to the CEP program to provide free meals following the end of that funding.

Pratt-Heavner said efforts to expand free meal availability for students during the pandemic showed many school officials across the state and nation the benefits of free lunch and breakfast programs, such as improvements in student engagement.

“We saw tremendous benefits during COVID associated with those meals being readily available to all students and we'd like to see that benefit continue,” she said, adding that nutrition is an important part of students' academic success.

According to a recent SNA survey, many school districts with free meal services through state initiatives or CEP report a more positive environment for low-income students, increased school meal participation and operational efficiency. Among school districts with free meal service through state initiatives or the CEP, 87.4 percent reported increased school meal participation, and 66.2 percent noted a more positive social-emotional cafeteria environment. In addition, 57 percent saw reduced stigma for low-income students.

A recent position paper from the SNA also notes that programs like CEP allow school nutrition professionals to focus on providing meals to students, without worrying about verifying which child is eligible for a free meal and which child must pay.

“By participating in the CEP, they have fewer paperwork requirements. All students can receive that meal for free. They don't have to collect applications,” Pratt-Heavner said, adding that schools are also turning to the CEP program to address growing student lunch debts.

Pratt-Heavner said that the program is still not financially viable for some school districts, and many still remain ineligible under new rules. She said the organization is continuing to push Congress to “ensure every student has equal access to nutritious school meals that support their academic achievement,” as well as supporting federal and state proposals to advance this goal, such as eliminating the reduced-price category and increasing what’s called a “CEP multiplier.”

“The program operates on both this identified student percentage and what we call ‘the multiplier.’ The multiplier is 1.6, so you multiply your identified student population by 1.6, and that shows how many and what percentage of the meals you serve that will get reimbursed at the free rate, with federal funds,” she said. “That multiplier is determined by Congress.”

“To increase the multiplier to make CEP more financially achievable and viable for schools nationwide, Congress would have to act,” she later added. “They have not yet acted to expand access to free school meals for all.”