Buncombe County Schools students will get free breakfast and lunch at start of school year

ASHEVILLE - There really is such a thing as a free lunch ― and a breakfast.

Buncombe County Schools made the announcement June 15 to parents and staff that all enrolled students at BCS are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch starting on Aug. 28 — the first day of the school year.

“We are extremely proud and very excited that we'll be able to serve all children in our school system breakfast and lunch at no cost,” Lisa Payne, director of school nutrition at Buncombe County Schools told the Citizen Times June 16.

In a June 15 email, the BCS communications department said, “we are pleased to inform you that Buncombe County Schools will be implementing a program available to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Programs called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).”

CEP provides a free meal service option for schools in districts of low-income areas.

Who is eligible?

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website a district becomes eligible for CEP if 40% or more of students in a district are already certified to eat for free without filling out an application.

This includes “children directly certified for free school meals through data matching because their households receive SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations benefits, and in some states, Medicaid benefits; and children who are certified for free school meals without an application because they are homeless, migrant, runaway, enrolled in Head Start, or in foster care,” according to Food Research & Action Center.

In the 2021-2022 school year 64.7% of school districts in the state of North Carolina were eligible for CEP, according to a report from FRAC.

The Community Eligibility Provision was approved by congress in 2010. It was a part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. It became an available option nationwide in the 2014-2015 school year.

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How does it work?

Every student in BCS will get free breakfast and lunch. They don't have to apply for anything to qualify. As long as they are students at BCS, children receive two free meals a day. There are 22,079 students in the Buncombe County school system, according to the National Center of Education Statistics.

Schools fall under three categories: Eligible, potentially eligible or not eligible.

All schools qualified in BCS except for two: Glen Arden Elementary and Martin L. Nesbitt Discovery Academy. Payne was able to group Glen Arden with a neighboring school and the county school board approved to have universal meals at Nesbitt to make sure all students in the county would receive a free breakfast and lunch.

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Asheville City Schools are not eligible for CEP, Dillon Huffman, ACS spokesperson told the Citizen Times on June 16. City school students don't meet the 40% threshold required for CEP.

According to the Food Research Action Center CEP has been proven to:

• Save significant time for administrators by no longer having to track free meal applications.

• Reduce cafeteria lines due to school nutrition staff no longer having to collect meal fees from students.

• Increases student participation in eating lunch.

Schools get reimbursed based on the number of low-income children.

What does this mean?

BCS was able to apply to CEP because this is the first year the program included the number of students on Medicaid free, which brought BCS numbers above 40% for children who qualify for free lunch.

Currently, 55% of Buncombe County Schools students qualify for free or reduced lunch, according to Payne.

The United States Department of Agriculture writes the meal patterns for BCS. The district is a self-operating program with no outside vendor and Payne said that won’t change.

“We try to add things every year. We listen to the kids. We try to find out what the latest trends are. We’re happy with where we are but there's always room for growth and improvement and we're excited,” Payne said.

CEP has been adopted for four years in Buncombe County schools.

With over 20,000 students, Buncombe County Schools served a total of 242,334 free and reduced meals in the month of April.

BCS Spokesperson Stacia Harris said that CEP won't change the school system's budget.

McKenna Leavens is the Education Reporter for the Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at MLeavens@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Free breakfast and lunch will be provided to Buncombe County students