Wayne County Schools, W.Va.- Students in Wayne County will have the opportunity to eat a no-cost breakfast and lunch at school through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program. The CEP was enacted as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and provides universal meal service to children in high-poverty areas. This is the fourth year for the option.
The CEP serves as an alternative to collecting, approving, and verifying household eligibility applications for free- and reduced-price eligible students in high-poverty Local Education Agencies (LEAs). If at least 25% of a school's student population is directly certified for free meal benefits, the entire school qualifies for the option.
"I am proud that Wayne County Schools will be participating in the CEP program to help meet a crucial need for many students in the county," said, Todd Alexander, Superintendent of Wayne County Schools. "We know academic achievement increases when our students are well-fed and ready to learn, and we must provide secure and reliable access to nutritious meals so all students have a chance to achieve at the highest level possible."
Wayne County expects to have all schools participate in the CEP. Each programmatic level of school will be participating: all elementary, middle, PreK-8, and high schools. The program allows the school system to feed nearly 6,000 students each day.
The 2017 Feeding America: Map the Meal Gap data reports high levels of food insecurity and hunger across the country. In West Virginia, more than 14% of residents, and over 79,000 children, live in food insecure households.
For more information, contact Lisa Thompson, Director of Food Services