Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal school meal program that allows eligible schools and school districts to provide breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge, regardless of individual household income or meal eligibility.

EASD is eligible to participate in CEP. The District evaluates the program annually using updated student eligibility information, federal and state reimbursement rates, projected meal participation, and the anticipated financial impact on the School Nutrition Program.

Breakfast is already available at no charge to all EASD students through a separate Pennsylvania program. For EASD, consideration of CEP therefore primarily involves the potential provision of lunch at no charge to all students.

2026-2027 School Year Analysis

To evaluate CEP, EASD prepared financial projections for the School Nutrition Program under both the current meal program and a scenario in which the District participated in CEP.

Meal Program (No CEP)

Under EASD's current meal program, the School Nutrition Program is projected to generate approximately $261,141 in positive annual revenue. The underlying financial projection shows total projected revenue of approximately $1.979 million and a School Nutrition Program profit of $261,141.49.

Positive School Nutrition Program revenue remains within the program and helps build and maintain reserves for allowable future food service expenses, including equipment and capital needs. While the amount of positive revenue can vary from year to year, maintaining a financially sustainable School Nutrition Program helps preserve those reserves. If reserves eventually become insufficient to cover future food service needs, the District would need to use General Fund or other District capital resources to fund them.

Projected School Nutrition Program Position: +$261,141

Supporting Documentation: 2026-2027 Food Service Financial Projection - Current Meal Program (No CEP)

Meal Program (CEP Participation)

EASD also prepared a financial projection using the same budgeting process but modeling operations as if the District participated in CEP. Under that scenario, the School Nutrition Program is projected to operate at an approximately $108,305 annual loss. The CEP projection shows approximately $1.610 million in total revenue and a School Nutrition Program loss of $108,305.32.

Because that projected operating loss would require General Fund support, the additional obligation would need to be incorporated into the District's overall budget through available revenues, reductions or adjustments to other expenditures, tax decisions, or some combination of those approaches.

Projected School Nutrition Program Position: −$108,305

Supporting Documentation: 2026-2027 Food Service Financial Projection - CEP Participation

Comparing the Two Scenarios

2026-2027 Projection	School Nutrition Program Position
Current Meal Program (No CEP)	+$261,141
CEP Participation	-$108,305
Change in Projected Annual Financial Position	$369,447*

*The $369,447 represents the difference between the two projected annual financial positions. It should not be interpreted as a $369,447 General Fund expenditure.

FAQs About CEP

How Does CEP Work?

Unlike the traditional school meal program, CEP does not determine reimbursement based on individual household applications for free and reduced-price meals.

Instead, CEP uses an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) based on students who qualify through specified eligibility categories. Direct certification includes students identified through qualifying government assistance programs such as SNAP, TANF and Medical Assistance with qualifying income. Certain other categorically eligible students are also included when determining a district's ISP.

The ISP is then multiplied by the federally established 1.6 factor to determine the percentage of meals reimbursed at the higher federal free-meal rate. Remaining meals receive the applicable federal paid-meal reimbursement.

How Does EASD Evaluate CEP?

Each year, EASD receives updated eligibility information through the state process using April 1 student eligibility data. The District uses that information to evaluate whether CEP participation is financially and operationally appropriate for the following school year.

The analysis considers factors including:

Student eligibility and direct certification data
Federal and state meal reimbursement rates
Projected meal participation
Food and labor costs
Food service revenues
The projected financial position of the School Nutrition Program
Potential effects on the District's General Fund and other resources

EASD also considers the benefits of CEP, including providing lunch at no charge to every student, reducing meal-application requirements, and supporting student access to nutritious meals.

When Is CEP Evaluated?

Current Status

Additional Information & Resources

In September 2026, EASD published an In Focus article in response to community questions about the Community Eligibility Provision. The article provides additional context about how CEP works, its potential benefits, the financial considerations for EASD, and why the District does not currently participate.

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