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Arlington to offer two free meals daily after state mandates Community Eligibility Provision
Summary
District food services director Mark Hicks told the board the state-mandated Community Eligibility Provision will provide up to two free meals a day to every student during the school year, but the change creates staff, supply and reimbursement uncertainties for the district.
Mark Hicks, Arlington Central School District director of food services, told the school board that the statehas moved the district to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which provides breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students during the school day.
Hicks said the change means "it's a meal service option that allows breakfast and lunch to [be] no cost to all students. It's not no cost to us. It is no cost to all students." He said the district filed for a four-year CEP term and that the policy currently authorizes participation through June 30, 2029.
The change matters because it removes the household application process for free-and-reduced-price meals, a calculation the district previously used both to reimburse meal costs and to support other funding streams such as Title I and foundation aid. Hicks said under last year's system about 32% of Arlington students were listed as eligible on April 1, and that the district's enrollment that morning…
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