All Madison County Schools students to receive free lunches in 2023-24

MARSHALL - While money is tight for many families, local parents and families received some reassuring news recently, as Madison County Schools will offer free lunches for the 2023-24 school year, which begins Aug. 21.

Historically, under the National School Lunch Program, nutritionally balanced meals are provided to students at low-cost or at a free or reduced price depending on eligibility. Under the program, children may be determined “categorically eligible” for free meals through participation in certain federal assistance programs, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or based on their status as a homeless, runaway, or foster child.

Children can also qualify for free or reduced price school meals based on household income and family size. Children from families with incomes at or below 130% the federal poverty level are eligible for free meals. Children from families with incomes between 130%-185% of the federal poverty level are eligible for reduced price meals.

Beginning Aug. 21, though, all Madison County Schools will receive free lunches, thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision, according to Brooke Ledford, Madison County Schools' nutrition director.

"Madison County Schools Nutrition Department strives to serve healthy meals that meet the nutritional needs of our students," Ledford said in an email to The News-Record. "By participating in the Community Eligibility Provision, we have taken this goal one step further by providing all students with a free breakfast and lunch that meets program requirements."

Madison County Schools offers more than 150,000 nutritionally balanced meals to students through the NSLP, Madison County Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman said in an email to The News-Record.

The Community Eligibility Provision was authorized by Congress as a part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and was available nationwide in July 2014. In July 2016 the Food and Nutrition Service published the final rule, codifying CEP in federal regulation.

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CEP allows schools located in low-income areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students while also eliminating the need to collect household applications to determine eligibility for free and reduced for school meal programs.  In order to qualify for CEP, schools must have a minimum Identified Student Percentage of 40% or greater in the prior school year. Identified students are those certified for free meals without the use of household applications, for example those directly certified through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

According to Hoffman, the school system implemented the Community Eligibility Provision at Hot Springs Elementary School in the 2018-19 school-year.

"This provision allowed each student at Hot Springs the opportunity to receive free breakfast and lunch. We saw participation in the school lunch program go up significantly at Hot Springs that year. Since then, we have been trying each year to get all other schools in the district to qualify for CEP," Hoffman said in the email.

Last school year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture selected North Carolina to participate in the NSLP and the School Breakfast Program demonstration projects to evaluate direct certification with Medicaid, which allowed all schools in Madison County to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision.

"This is a real game changer for our students and families," Hoffman said. "Given the high rate of inflation, the exponential increase in food costs, and the number of students who almost qualified for free and reduced lunches under a cumbersome application process, this program will be a welcome relief."

Students and their families do not need to file any paperwork to participate.

"This program takes the 'red tape' out of the school meal process and addresses daily food insecurity, student meal debt and the stigma of why some kids eat free and some pay," Hoffman said. "We want our students to have consistent access to nutritious meals, so they are healthy, active and ready to succeed. We feel that this step is critical in achieving our overall goals."

Hoffman said Assistant Superintendent Lisa Gahagan and Finance Director Michael Wallin, as well as Ledford, helped jumpstart the process.

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"Our school leaders talk a lot about the type of school system we want to be and what level of service we aim to provide for our public," the superintendent said. "We want a school system that is safe, that offers a quality education with accessible campuses and state of the art facilities. We recognize that any outcomes that we hope to achieve are predetermined by the means we adopt to achieve those outcomes. So, this year, as we prepare our strategic plan and school improvement plans, knowing that students will receive free meals is a positive intervention that ties directly to our planning process, our outcomes and our central mission of educating Madison County students."

Weekly menus will be available on the school and district websites, according to Ledford.

"Not only will students receive free meals, but parents and guardians will no longer be burdened with submitting free and reduced lunch applications in order for their child to receive free or reduced meals," Ledford said. "We are excited about this new opportunity and look forward to serving students in the 2023-24 school year.”

For more information, contact Brooke Ledford, or visit the Madison County Schools website at www.madisonk12.net

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: All Madison County Schools students to receive free lunches in 2023-24