SNA and other organizations ask for CEP expansion in upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) and over 30 other organizations have written a letter to Senate Committee on Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member John Boozman asking them to include provisions to expand the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) in the upcoming Senate version of Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

CEP allows schools where 40% of students qualify for free or reduced meals to offer free meals to all students.

In the letter, the organizations ask that the CEP eligibility threshold be lowered from 40% to 25%. In addition, they also ask for there to be a statewide community eligibility option and to raise the multiplier for federal reimbursement from 1.6 to 2.5 so participation is more financially feasible for schools.

Earlier this year, the House released its version of Child Nutrition Reauthorization which does include provisions to expand CEP.

The SNA has advocated for the expansion of universal free meals over the past several years.