Food and Nutrition Programs

Community Eligibility Provision Webinar

To:	Superintendents, School Business Officials, Principals and School Nutrition Directors Eligible for Community Eligibility for School Meals
From:	Kathleen C. Millett, Executive Director Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety Programs
Date:	February 28, 2014

Notice of Informational Webinar on the National School Lunch Program's Community Eligibility Provision for SY 2014-2015

The United States Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program under the requirements set forth in the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 will begin a national implementation of the new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) in SY 2014-2015. Eligible schools are able to streamline and improve school nutrition programs by providing universal breakfast and lunch to all students through this provision. The Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety Programs will be holding an informational webinar on Wednesday, March 17, 2014. The Community Eligibility Provision provides an alternative to household applications for free and reduced price meals in high poverty local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools. The intent is to provide universal free meals to all students in eligible LEAs at either the district or school(s) level, while eliminating the administrative and household burden of the meal benefit application process.

CEP Eligibility Requirements:

For an LEA to be eligible to participate in CEP, 40% or greater of the enrollment of the identified student percentage were eligible and had access to free school meals as of April 1, in the prior school year.
Submit a letter of intent to participate to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety Programs, on or before March 31, 2014.
Agree to accurately determine the identified student percentage for the LEA or each eligible school or group(s) of schools as of April 1, 2014 for the upcoming school year, and submit eligibility worksheet to ESE by April 15, 2014.
Agree to serve free breakfasts and lunches to all students at each eligible and participating school or group(s) of schools.
Agree to notify families of children participating in CEP of the program.
Agree to use non-Federal funds to cover any costs incurred that are greater than the reimbursement funds provided. All schools that are eligible for severe need funding, mandated breakfast funds and/or state universal breakfast funds will continue to receive those additional monies. LEAs will also continue to receive Performance Based Funding (additional six cents per lunch served) if certified.
Submit the CEP application to participate on or before May 1, 2014.

To better acquaint you with this new provision and to provide detailed information regarding implementation, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety Programs will be conducting an informational webinar on the Community Eligibility Provision on Monday, March 17, 2014, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00p.m. You will be able to access the webinar from any computer that has internet access and Adobe Flash. If you do not have Adobe Flash on your computer, you can download it for free at www.adobe.com. ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR IT SPECIALIST PRIOR TO DOWNLOADING ANYTHING TO YOUR COMPUTER. In addition to the computer internet access, participants will need to listen to the webinar via any phone. If viewing the webinar with others, the phone should have a speaker option. You may not want to use your mobile device to participate because of the length of the webinar. Audio will not be provided via the computer.

Important Registration Information

Please register as soon as possible as space is limited. If multiple participants will be viewing the webinar on one computer and listening on a speaker phone, only one participant will need to register. Registration needs to be completed by using the following link (Directions can be found on the registration link): http://www.doe.mass.edu/conference/?ConferenceID=1827 Please note that if the training is no longer on the dropdown bar of the registration link, the training is full. Please contact Marisol Montes at 781-338-6494 or by email at mmontes@doe.mass.edu if you have any questions regarding registration. Please contact Jheanell West at 781-338-6459 or by email at jwest@doe.mass.edu if you have any questions related to the training(s).

Additional Information

You will receive confirmation of your training registration with details of how to access the training. It will contain additional information related to the training. We look forward to seeing you attend this important Webinar training on CEP, as the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety Program strives to enhance the efficiency and quality of Child Nutrition Programs across the Commonwealth.

Last Updated: March 3, 2014