By Kelly Youngblood
Parents of children in the Urbana School District won’t have to worry about sending lunch money to school this year.
Thanks to a program known as the Community Eligibility Provision, all students in the Urbana School District will be offered breakfast and lunch at no charge.
For families who paid the full price for both meals last year, that amounts to about $500 a year per child in savings.
“I think it’s a very positive thing. Our families should be very excited and we’re hoping it’s something we can continue to offer,” said Carol Baker, chief financial officer for the Urbana School District.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows schools that serve a predominantly low-income population to offer free meals to all students.
According to Baker, Urbana School District had 71 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch last year.
The CEP, which is part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, eliminates the paper household application process.
Instead, information is collected from programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).
Schools can qualify for the CEP if at least 40 percent of their students are considered “Identified Students,” which are those who are directly certified through SNAP or TANF.
This year Champaign Unit 4 will offer free meals at six of the 12 elementary schools in the district. Danville schools will also be offering free meals district-wide.
Mary Davis, director of food service for Unit 4, said free meals are not served to the entire district because the percentage of identified students wasn’t high enough to receive the necessary reimbursements.
“Our district is economically diverse enough that all of the remaining schools have too low of a percentage of students on the direct certification list,” Davis said.
This year, International Prep Academy was added to the list of Champaign schools that participate in the CEP program. Stratton, Dr. Howard, Kenwood, Booker T. Washington, and Garden Hills participated in the CEP program last year.
Once the CEP program is implemented, it remains in place for four years.
Baker said they hope to increase participation and see more students get their meals at school.
“We’re hoping people take advantage of it because if they don’t take advantage of it, it’s not something we will be able to offer in the future,” Baker said.
Baker also said students must take a full meal, which includes an entrée, fruit, vegetable and milk. If your child wants additional meals, a la carte items, or just milk, they will need money on their account to pay for those items.