Pendleton County Schools Provide Meals to ALL Students at No Cost for School Year 2019-2020
Pendleton County, W.Va. – Elementary and Middle/High students in Pendleton County Schools will be provided the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch at school at no cost this school year. The elementary and middle/high schools are participating in a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
The CEP was enacted as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and provides universal meal service to children in high poverty areas. The CEP is an alternative to collecting, approving and verifying household eligibility applications for free and reduced price eligible students in high poverty local education agencies. If at least 40 percent of a school’s students are directly certified for free meal benefits, the entire school qualifies for the option.
All four schools in Pendleton County will participate in CEP this school year; and this includes Brandywine Elementary School, Franklin Elementary School, North Fork Elementary School, and Pendleton County Middle/High School. The program allows Pendleton County Schools to feed nearly 900 students each day. We do ask that you encourage your children to participate in the breakfast/lunch program at all four schools to help sustain the initiative. Our hopes are to improve the learning environment by offering all students nutritious meals at no cost. We can then ensure that students are coming to class well-nourished and ready to learn.
“I am proud that Pendleton County Schools will again be participating in the CEP program to help meet a crucial need for student success in our county,” Superintendent Charles Hedrick said. “We know academic achievement increases when our students are well fed and ready to learn, and we want to provide access so students have a chance to achieve. However, we must be sure this is financially feasible. To do this, we will review meal participation in regards to CEP annually. Please be aware, we may need to return to a pre-pay method for the payment of meals for the next school year. The more students that participate, the better it is for all of us.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released data reporting high levels of food insecurity and hunger across the country. In West Virginia, over 14 percent of residents live in food insecure households and more than 100,000 children live below the poverty line.
For more information, contact Emmy Champ at 304-358-7072 ext. 1 or [email protected]. 1c