District reports early gains in free‑meal program under USDA community eligibility provision

Laramie County School District #1 administrators updated the board March 3 on the first year of offering universal free breakfast and lunch at 13 participating schools under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

What the district said: Director of Nutrition Services Ashley Roth told trustees the program removed the need for families to submit meal applications and extended free breakfast and lunch to 4,449 students at 13 South Triad schools. Roth said district meal debt has “decreased significantly” since the program began and reported district totals of 285,649 lunches and 133,930 breakfasts served at the 13 schools through the latest reporting week.

Participation and financial mechanics: Roth reported average daily participation (ADP) of 57% for lunch and 27% for breakfast across the participating schools. That represented a 21% ADP increase at lunch and a 35% ADP increase at breakfast compared with the prior school year, numbers the district said are on the trajectory needed to keep the program financially viable.

Chief Financial Officer Ciccarelli and nutrition staff explained the CEP reimbursement calculation to trustees: the district multiplies its directly certified (DC) student percentage by 1.6 to create an identified student percentage (ISP), which determines the share of meals claimed at the full federal free rate. Using the district’s ISP, trustees were told the district is claiming 71.66% of meals at the full free lunch reimbursement rate; the remainder is reimbursed at a lower rate.

Why the timing mattered: Nutrition staff said the district made use of a unique 2024 base year snapshot produced by a COVID‑era Medicaid waiver that temporarily increased direct certification counts. That base year enabled the district to qualify for a four‑year CEP cycle beginning this school year. Roth and Ciccarelli said the district must re‑notify the state by next month to continue participation for 2025–26 and will monitor participation and federal reimbursement rules to assess financial feasibility year to year.

Next steps to increase participation: To raise breakfast ADP further, the district will pilot second‑chance breakfast at Johnson and South schools (a brief mid‑morning grab‑and‑go period) and expand “speed scratch” scratch‑made menu items to improve meal appeal. Roth said the district is already introducing new scratch‑made items and that principals are working with nutrition staff on scheduling second‑chance breakfast so it does not unduly disrupt class time.

Meal debt and assistance: Roth described the district’s “Feed It Forward” community funded account that helps households with negative meal balances. The nutrition office sends automated negative‑balance notices daily, conducts early outreach when an account reaches negative $15 and, in individual cases, can complete a school admin application to clear debt. The district’s alternate meal policy provides a standard deli sandwich when accounts reach a negative charge limit; the department tracks and flags students who receive excessive alternate meals for additional outreach.

Trustees asked staff to continue regular updates so the board can evaluate CEP participation and financial performance before the April eligibility snapshot and decisions about opting in for 2025–26.