Beech Tree News Network

Butler County Schools are set to implement the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for free meal reimbursement for school year 2015-2016 for North Butler Elementary, Morgantown Elementary and Butler County Middle School. 

“When the opportunity to reasonably offer free meals to schools within our district presented itself, we definitely wanted to pursue it for the financial help to families and for the benefit of students" said Butler County Schools Nutrition Director Kaitlin Harrison.

Harrison, along with Superintendent Scott Howard and Chief Finance Officer Eric Elms, evaluated the family income data for students at each of the schools in April and discovered that three schools qualified for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) grant.  These schools were already serving a high percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunches.

Principals Robert Tuck, Chad Flener and Josh Belcher expressed excitement for the opportunity to offer their students free meals.

Butler County Middle School Principal Robert Tuck commented, “BCMS faculty and staff are excited to be a part the of the breakfast and lunch initiative for the 2015-16 school year. This is a great service to both students and parents.  The next step for BCMS faculty and staff will be to work to assure as smooth a transition to the program as possible. Student participation will be key in making sure we are able to continue for years to come.”

Flener, who is beginning his first full year as principal of Morgantown Elementary said, “We are so excited that Morgantown Elementary will be part of the Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.  We are always looking to remove any obstacle that may stand in the way of a child's education. This program will allow us to meet the very basic needs of students with free breakfast and lunch."  

North Butler Principal Josh Belcher added, “I am absolutely elated at the opportunity for Butler County Schools to offer free breakfast and lunch opportunities at North Butler Elementary next school year.  It is with no question that this can go a long way to help all families out financially but more importantly provide assurance that every student is eating a nutritious meal at least twice daily. Kaitlin Harrison and our school nutrition staff do excellent work and are a valuable part of the educational process and I would like to personally thank them for their efforts to make this possible. Encourage your child to visit the breakfast and lunch line every day when we start the 2015-16 school year; even if they bring a lunch they may also get food from the lunch line. We want all children to take full advantage of this opportunity."

In addition to easing families’ financial burdens, school administrators hope that participation in the schools’ breakfast and lunch programs will increase and positively affect students’ success in the classroom.

Harrison noted that studies suggest students who eat a nutritious breakfast and lunch have improved cognitive abilities, test scores and concentration in the classroom.

The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 includes the implementation of CEP to insure that every student in low-income neighborhoods and/or districts can participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). To qualify, a district or school must have 40 percent or more of its student’s eligible for free meals based on direct certification numbers which are students who qualify for SNAP, KTAP, income-based Medicaid and foster children.

“At this time it is not feasible for our high school to implement CEP due to lower direct certification numbers. However, the grant could be obtained in the future as CEP eligibility is reevaluated annually,” Harrison said.

School administration encourages parents to allow their children to participate in school meals in order for the grant opportunity to be sustained. Success of the provision is heavily based on high meal participation at each school. 

"We understand that it is a privilege to offer this provision and it's our goal to sustain it through offering nutritious meals our students will enjoy in order to produce high meal participation,”stated Harrison.