Salem-Keizer will provide free breakfast, lunch to all students. Here's what to know

Salem-Keizer Public Schools will continue to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all students enrolled in virtual, hybrid or in-person classes in the upcoming 2022-23 school year.

Central, Falls City, Jefferson, Santiam Canyon and Woodburn school districts also are among those eligible to participate for the upcoming school year in the federal program Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program.

Schools that adopt the provision are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students who are normally certified for free school meals without an application, according to the Oregon Department of Education. This includes students who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, foster or migrant education, as well as unsheltered students eligible for McKinney-Vento assistance.

Of Salem-Keizer's 40,155 students, more than 260 students were experiencing homelessness in 2020-21, and about 84% of Salem-Keizer students last year were considered to be economically disadvantaged. This historically has been defined by their families' eligibility for free and reduced-price meals.

This year, with an increase in families seeking assistance, the district determined an average of 40% of its students were living below the federal poverty level. This qualified all Salem-Keizer students to access free meals, explained Emily Hicks with the district's communications department.

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"Our community has seen (an)increased need for services, which extends to students heading into our classrooms this upcoming school year," director of Strategic Initiatives Suzanne West said.

"Children struggle to learn when basic needs, such as hunger, are not met," she said. "We are committed to ensuring that all students in Salem-Keizer Public Schools have access to the resources they need to effectively learn and grow."

Salem-Keizer also qualified for the program last school year, Hicks said, and its schools will remain eligible through the completion of the 2024-25 school year. Eligibility will be reassessed for the 2025-26 school year and beyond.

Onsite meals will be available for enrolled students who attend in-person at their home school, Hicks said.

Grab-and-go meals, which have been offered throughout the pandemic, are available to students who attend online and may be picked up at their home school. This will continue under the new CEP program.

Contact Statesman Journal education reporter Natalie Pate at npate@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6745. Follow her on Twitter @NataliePateGwin.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem-Keizer to provide free breakfast, lunch to all students