CEP allows eligible schools and districts to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. Access to school meals is critical to student health and well-being, especially for children from low-income households, and ensures that students have the nutrition they need throughout the day to learn. If CEP is financially viable for your school or district, it is critical that you opt in now! This will allow you to lock in your current ISP rate for four years, ahead of what could be significant decreases in ISPs as cuts to SNAP and Medicaid impact direct certification levels over the next few years.
If your district is already participating in CEP, we strongly encourage you to review your current ISP and consider recertifying to restart your CEP cycle as a way to mitigate the harmful effects of cuts to SNAP and Medicaid under HR1. If your ISP went up or stayed the same, it makes sense to lock in and restart the cycle before ISPs drop even further. Even if your ISP has gone down by a few percentage points, we encourage you to recalculate and, if financially viable, lock in at that rate ahead of what could be significant decreases in ISPs over the next few years, due to cuts to SNAP and Medicaid.
So many families in NJ are struggling to make ends meet, and our children will need free school meals more than ever! If CEP makes sense for your district, don’t wait! The deadline to opt in for the 2026–2027 school year is June 30, 2026.
Helpful Resources
- Watch the Information Session recording
- Review the presentation slides
- USDA Title I Guidance for Schools Electing Community Eligibility
- FRAC Understanding the Relationship Between CEP and Title I Funding
- SNEARS Resources
- SNEARS Training
- Review our attached CEP brief
Please reach out to Hunger Free New Jersey if you have any questions.
Thank you for all that you do to nourish your students.