Community Eligibility Provision Questions and Answers

What is the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)?
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a program through the USDA that allows schools in low income areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students.

How does a district qualify for the Community Eligibility Program?
Eligibility is determined by the Identified Student Percentage (ISP) per school building. ISP is calculated by the number of students who qualify for free meals without an application (Foster, homeless, Medicaid, SNAP etc.) divided by the total school enrollment. A school must have a minimum ISP of 40% to qualify. Districts may participate in CEP in a variety of ways: by individual school building, groups of schools or the entire district.

Which Schools in the Southfield Public Schools will be participating in CEP?
This school year only Adler, Stevenson, Vandenberg, Levey, Thompson, Kennedy Learning Center, Southfield Regional Academic Campus and ASPIRE Leadership Academy have been approved to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision. All students in these schools (even those who did not qualify in the past) will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch without submitting a free and reduced lunch application. Families at these buildings will be asked to complete a Title I Household Information Report.

Students attending McIntyre Elementary, MacArthur K-8 University Academy, University Middle School Academy, University High School Academy, Birney K-8 School, and Southfield High School for the Arts & Technology are not CEP schools, however, students may qualify for free or reduced-price meals with the approval of a free and reduced lunch application or a direct certification letter.

Building	CEP School	Free & Reduced Price Meal Application Required to receive free or reduced-price meals?
Adler Elementary	Yes	No
Birney K-8 School	No	Yes
Kennedy Learning Center	Yes	No
Levey Middle School	Yes	No
MacArthur K-88 University Academy	No	Yes
McIntyre Elementary	No	Yes
Southfield High School for the Arts & Technology	No	Yes
Southfield Regional Academic Campus and Aspire Leadership Academy	Yes	No
Stevenson Elementary	Yes	No
Thompson K-8 International Academy	YES	No
University Middle and High School Academy	No	Yes
Vandenberg World Cultures Academy	Yes	No

Why didn't we qualify for CEP in previous years?
Our ISP was too low. The district overall ISP in 2016-17 was 32.9%. In October 2017, 752 Medicaid students were added to the direct certification files. This increased the ISP at all schools.

What if I have one child that attends a CEP school and another child that attends a school that is not a CEP school?
In order to qualify for free or reduced-price meals an application must be submitted for the student in the non-CEP school.

What is a Community Eligibility Household Information Report?
Title I is a federal program that provides financial assistance to schools to improve academic achievement. Title I funds are allocated to schools based on household income. For CEP schools the Household Information Report is needed to meet Michigan Title I allocation rules.

Why are only 7 schools CEP this year?
These schools had the highest ISP percentage. It was not cost-effective to expand CEP to the other schools.

Will the program be expanded in the future?
We will be evaluating the program each year to determine if it can be expanded.

What are the meal prices for students in a non-CEP school?
Students who do not attend a CEP school or qualify for free or reduced-price meals must pay the full price for meals.