In only its second year of availability nationwide, more than 18,000 schools in high-poverty areas are utilizing the Community Eligibility Provision to provide free breakfast and lunch to all of their students, a total of 8.5 million pupils. Nearly 40 percent of those schools, however, would be disqualified under a proposal drafted by the Republican-controlled House Education Committee, says the think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
“More than one-third of the affected schools are located in just five states: Kentucky, New York, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia,” says the CBPP analysis, but every state in the country would feel the impact. Texas has the largest number of schools that would lose community eligibility, 802.
The discussion draft circulated by committee staff would require schools to have an “identified student percentage” (ISP) of 60, rather than the current 40. By CBPP’s count, 7,022 of the participating schools would not meet the 60-percent threshold.
“Identified students” are a large portion but not all of the students in a school who are eligible for free meals because of low household income, and whose parents could submit an application for free or reduced-price meals. The rule of thumb is to multiply the number of identified students by 1.6 for an approximate number of students who are eligible for help.
“Schools in which 40 percent to 60 percent of students are identified as automatically eligible for free meals typically have 64 percent to 96 percent of their students approved for free or reduced-price meals,” said the CBPP.
If lawmakers require an ISP of 60, it would limit community eligibility to schools where almost all the students already get free meals, said an anti-hunger activist. At present, community eligibility has to cover a sizable part of the cost of meals for the portion of their enrollment that would not qualify for free meals based on their ISP.
Community eligibility “is a win for schools, parents and students,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack earlier this month. It frees schools from the chores of keeping track of which students qualify for lower-price meals and policing the lunch line.
Congress is due to update child-nutrition programs, costing $23 billion annually, this year. The bill awaiting a vote in the Senate would not change community eligibility. The House Education Committee has yet to vote on a bill.
School lunch, which provides meals to 30.4 million pupils daily, is the largest of the child-nutrition programs. Participation swelled during the 2008-09 recession and the following couple of years. But numbers dropped after the USDA implemented rules to require more fruits, vegetables and whole grains in school meals, and less salt, sugar and fat. Some school districts said the new rules were unduly expensive and students didn’t like the food. The USDA says 97 percent of schools comply with the new rules.