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Tempe Elementary outlines how Community Eligibility Provision is feeding students and reducing paperwork
Summary
Director of Nutrition Services Janae Watts told the board that Tempe Elementary operates CEP across K—5, K—8 and middle sites through May 2029, achieves a district ISP of 58.52% and an estimated 93% of meal reimbursement at the free rate, and emphasized increased participation and federal recognition for local scratch cooking and sodium reduction.
Janae Watts, Tempe Elementary—s director of nutrition services, gave a detailed presentation on the district—s operation of the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), the federal option that allows qualifying schools or districts to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students without household applications.
Watts told the board the district—s identified student percentage (ISP) is 58.52%. Using the USDA multiplier of 1.6, she said Tempe—s calculation yielded an effective reimbursement rate of about 93% at the free rate for both breakfast and lunch; the remaining roughly 7% is reimbursed at lower paid rates. Watts illustrated daily operations with typical meal counts (about 7,300 lunches and 3,400 breakfasts on a typical day) and estimated per-meal federal reimbursements at the free rates used for planning.
She said the district qualified for CEP in part because Arizona allowed the use of Medicaid data for direct certification (first used in Tempe in February 2023), and that Tempe—s district-wide CEP certification runs through May 2029. Watts noted Tempe received three USDA recognition awards for scratch cooking, sodium reduction (lunch trailblazer), and innovation in nutrition education.
Watts acknowledged CEP does not eliminate existing meal debt but puts new charges on pause and reduces administrative burden from meal applications. She told the board the district had about $264,000 in meal debt carried in one earlier school year and that community donations of about $3,000 helped in the prior year; she urged community donations via the district website—s nutrition-services donation option.
Board members asked whether local procurement, commodity programs, or state local-reimbursement programs help with rising food costs. Watts said the district uses state local-reimbursement programs ("Try Local") and commodity programs (brown box) and targets spending roughly $2.00 per lunch and $1.25 per breakfast in food cost while emphasizing locally sourced ingredients and scratch preparation to control costs and maintain quality.
The district reported higher participation in lunch (consistent with national studies showing a mid-single-digit percent increase after CEP adoption) and a smaller improvement in breakfast participation; Watts said the district aims to expand breakfast participation and uses breakfast-in-the-classroom at some sites with higher uptake.
Watts closed by urging the board to allow administration to renew CEP each year where financially viable; she reminded trustees that ADE contacts districts each April about direct certification and enrollment that feed the CEP decision-making cycle.
