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St. Tammany school leaders debate paying $2.5M to keep universal free meals under CEP
Summary
School committee heard presentation on Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) showing a drop in the identified student percentage and a projected $2.5 million local cost to continue universal free meals; committee recorded a divided advisory vote and the item will proceed to the full board.
The St. Tammany Parish School Board committee heard detailed budget and programing information about the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) during a lengthy discussion that centered on whether the district should continue offering universal free meals next school year.
Miss Hart, who presented the district analysis, told the committee that the state'provided identified student percentage (ISP) used to compute CEP reimbursement declined from 40.41% to 38.67%. "After some comparison data and the April population data that comes from the state, we found that there's been a change in the identified student percentage," Hart said. She gave a district projection that continuing CEP for 2025'—26 would require a local contribution of roughly $2,500,000.
The nut of the debate was the tradeoff between continuing to feed every student at no charge and the budgetary impact to the district. "If we vote yes, then we're voting for the status quo. If we vote no, we're voting to go back to the old way," said Mr. Green as board members questioned how a committee vote would affect…
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