WARREN – Warren ISD announced last week that it had opted out of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). District superintendent Rusty Minyard said the reason for this was due to reimbursement shortfalls and rising operating costs for the district.
The CEP of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 allows, through local school districts in low-income areas, an alternative approach to operating school meal programs. Instead of collecting individual applications for free and reduced-priced meals, the CEP allows school districts to use information from other means-tested programs, such as SNAP and the Temporary Assistance Program for Needy Families (TANF) to offer free meals to all children within the district, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
Warren ISD had participated in the program, but according to Minyard, the decision came down to the district’s ability to balance maximum federal reimbursement against the overall cost of serving free meals across the district.
Minyard said that last year Warren ISD lost a quarter of a million dollars on the program, alone. “There were other indirect losses from federal funding that have occurred due to this that has put an even greater burden on the district in many areas,” Minyard said.
Minyard added that he was willing to take up to $100K in losses to help provide some relief to the community through the program, but government cutbacks in funding have created “an unviable situation” for the district.
“I am saddened by the fact that the CEP program does not work for our district,” Minyard said, but added that individual households are still eligible to qualify for free and reduced-price lunches by filling out the application online, or paper forms available at each Warren ISD campus.
In a statement from Warren ISD, the district addressed the significant budget deficit that necessitated the cessation of the district’s participation in CEP and stated it is “committed to supporting our families”.
