All students in Wright City West Elementary will be served free breakfast and lunch over the next four years through the Community Eligibility Provision program sponsored by the USDA Food and …
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All students in Wright City West Elementary will be served free breakfast and lunch over the next four years through the Community Eligibility Provision program sponsored by the USDA Food and Nutrition Services.West Elementary is the only building among the four in the R-II District to qualify for the program, which is a meal service option for school districts in low-income areas.“We have a population of families who need assistance, so we are happy to increase the resources available for all students,” said Superintendent Dr. David Buck.Buck says one major benefit of the CEP is that it eliminates the need for individual households to fill out applications and submit them to the school.“We won’t be collecting any forms for the next four years, which means families won’t have the burden of making sure they get the paperwork submitted,” he said.Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students participating in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).Parents should be aware that if they have students attending other buildings in the district, lunches will not be free, or will need to be sourced through free-and-reduced programming.“We’ve watched our numbers every year to see if we have enough families receiving government assistance to qualify,” said Buck, who notes that eligibility is not linked to the free-and-reduced program already in place.Buck says he spoke with the Mexico School District, which has been using the program for several years. The district has seen a 15 percent increase in lunch participation by students and a “tremendous” 60 percent increase in the breakfast program.“The school’s main responsibility is education and safety,” said Buck. “All the other things like health, hunger and hygiene impact learning, so we want to help out with those as much as possible.”Currently, the district sends home food to about 50 students per weekend through the backpack program.“I’m glad we found another vehicle to contribute to the community through,” said Buck.School Lunch