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The CEP Calculator enables school nutrition staff to…

1. Compare side-by-side your district’s expected annual revenue under both CEP and standard NSLP (standard counting and claiming)
2. Compare side-by-side each school’s expected annual revenue under both CEP and standard NSLP
3. Customize your financial analysis by manipulating expected breakfast and lunch participation rates by school, and see the impacts on revenue in real-time
4. Optimize your revenue with CEP by using strategic grouping, powered by the CEP grouping tool, Meals Count. It’s built right into the calculator!

For step-by-step guidance on how to use the CEP Calculator, view the short demo below. You can also view a longer webinar and demo here.

For questions, support, or to provide feedback, please email Summer Kriegshauser at skriegshaurser[at]strength.org

Meals Count is a free tool to help school districts optimize their Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) applications, maximize school meal funding, and fight childhood hunger.

Making the Case for CEP

• One-page CEP Overview
• Promoting Educational Equity With CEP
• How CEP Benefits Students, Families, and Schools
• CEP Talking Points for Conversations with District Administrators
• Template Letter to School Administrators About Adopting CEP
• What School Nutrition Staff Need to Know About Title 1 Funding
• Including Community Eligibility in Your Back-to-School Plans (webinar)

Maximizing Reimbursement and Participation

• Strategies for Finding Success with CEP
• CEP Financial Considerations for School Business Officials
• “COVID’s Impact on School Meal Data & Title I Funding” published by ASBO International

Grouping and Financial Analysis Tools

• No Kid Hungry’s CEP Calculator and video demo
• MealsCount.com and video demo (grouping tool)

Other Options for Universal Free School Meals

• Provision 2 and “Non-Pricing”
• Providing Universal Free School Meals

The latest updates and resources on CEP can be found here.

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal school meal funding option that enables schools, participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, to streamline school meal operations by allowing schools with a minimum percentage of identified students to provide no-cost meals to all students as well as forgo the collection of free and reduced-price applications.

• CEP Overview – Visit our Center for Best Practices CEP webpage for access to information and resources, from how CEP works (eligibility, reimbursement, etc.), to gaining buy-in from stakholders, to implementation support.
• Webinar: CEP 101 – Learn the nuts and bolts of CEP, key upcoming dates, and tools to help you make decisions about whether CEP adoption is right for your community.
• CEP Video Series – For an in-depth understanding of CEP, this short video series offers information on:
  • Whether CEP is right for you,
  • CEP Financials,
  • CEP and Your Central Business Officer (CBO),
  • Maximizing ISP, and
  • Measuring CEP Success.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) CEP Resource Center – Provides extensive resources for parents, teachers, and school officials at the local, state, and federal levels to better understand CEP and its benefits, along with useful tools to help facilitate successful implementation of the provision.

• No Kid Hungry CEP Calculator – The No Kid Hungry CEP Calculator compares both school and district-level expected annual revenue under both CEP and standard counting and claiming. It optimizes your revenue with CEP by using strategic grouping, and customizes your financial analysis by manipulating expected breakfast and lunch participation rates by school. This resource page also includes a demo on how to use the calculator. The CEP Calculator and Demo can be found on this page!
• FRAC’s Community Eligibility Database – find out which schools are eligible for CEP.

• Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Communications Toolkit – This toolkit provides school nutrition departments with strategies and tips to effectively communicate about CEP and the availability of free school meals for all students. The toolkit also has downloadable and customizable social media graphics, banners, posters and more for you to use to spread the word about free school meals for all to students in your district.
• CEP Outreach – Visit our outreach page for guidance and resources on how to help raise the visibility of CEP amongst stakeholders, including students, district administrators, teachers and school staff.

• Webinar: You’ve Gone CEP, Now What? Tips & tricks to maximize CEP – Learn strategies and best practices to maximize the benefits of CEP, including tracking key performance indicators, operational changes to maximize benefits, and tips for looking ahead.
• Student Feedback Toolkit for School Meals – Access tools for collecting feedback about school meal programs from students through both surveys and listening sessions, which can help provide as much insight as possible to understand and improve participation.

• No Kid Hungry State Legislation Dashboard – This tool depicts the landscape of state legislation in key policy areas for addressing child hunger, including no-cost school meals through CEP and Healthy School Meals for All. This can be helpful for identifying approaches taken by other states to increase access to school meals.
• USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision Status of School Districts and Schools by State  – Learn about about CEP, including state agency application processes.

The CEP Workgroup is a series of workshops led by school nutrition peers and experts, for school nutrition directors to help them prepare for the transition to CEP. Each session offers one-on-one support, active discussions with other districts, and a deep dive on each topics. The sessions include some of the following topics:

• CEP Basics & Universal Meals for SY22-23
• The Power of Partnerships & Strategic Groupings to Maximize ISP
• Tips on Direct Certification & Data Management
• Alternative Income Forms, Stakeholder Buy-In & Communications
• Increasing Capacity & Participation with CEP

Rewatch the sessions! Watch the playlists of speaker presentations from both: CEP Workgroup 1.0 and CEP Workgroup 2.0.

Registration is closed. If you are interested in learning about the Workgroup or joining a future cohort, contact us at nokidhungryca[at]strength.org