325 High-Poverty Schools Have Signed Up For Program To Help Provide Meals

So far, 325 schools in Wisconsin have applied for the federal Community Eligibility Provision program, which will aim to help high-poverty schools provide student meals once it goes into effect nationwide this fall.

CEP covers the cost of meals for all students in high-poverty schools and eliminates the need to collect applications for free- and reduced- price meals.

“The intent is to work with schools who have already demonstrated that there is a high level of students who are in need to help reduce the administrative burden of following the National School Lunch Program,” said Karrie Isaacson, with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Carrie Spees, food service director at the Wautoma Area School District in central Wisconsin, said 73 percent of the students there qualify for free and reduced lunch. The district will soon provide free breakfast and lunch to all of their students through CEP. Spees said there’s a need.

“There’s a lot of children that were right on the borderline,” said Spees. “Sometimes they didn’t come into lunch or … they couldn’t afford it.”

Isaacson said to participate, a school has to have 40 percent or more of its students qualify for free meals. She said the program is voluntary and schools have until the end of the month to apply.