Protect School Meals!
By Dr. Chris Prososki, Southern Schools Superintendent
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high poverty schools to offer free school meals to all students. When a child’s nutritional needs are met, the child is more attentive in class, has better attendance, and has fewer disciplinary problems. The CEP program eliminates paperwork and stigma, while curbing unpaid meal debt.
Families with tight food budgets can rest assured that their child is getting two nutritious meals at school, reducing financial strain at home. Since the 2022-2023 school year, Southern Public Schools has offered universal free school meals to all students in our district.
The current administration and Republican lawmakers are considering different proposals to help offset the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, which would have a devastating effect on children and schools across the United States. Their proposal to raise the CEP eligibility threshold from 25 percent to 60 percent would cut more than 24,000 students, serving 12 million students from the program. In Nebraska alone, this would affect 49 schools, and over 12,432 students.
If the CEP eligibility threshold changes, this would end the universal free school meals at Southern Public Schools forever! This regressive measure would limit student access to nutritious meals, burden schools with time-consuming and costly paperwork, and force eligible families to navigate cumbersome applications to receive free or reduced-price meals. The CEP program is a return on taxpayers’ investments because all taxpayers in the United States fund federal subsidies that go to the almost every aspect of the agriculture sector.
Let’s stay true to common sense, and not use children as political pawns.
I urge everyone to contact your United States Senators and Representatives and ask them to keep kids first!
Source: School Nutrition Association
