County BOE schools announces policy for free, reduced-priced meals for 2024-25 year

Special to the Advance

The Escambia County Board of Education June 12 announced its policy for free and reduced-price meals for children served in schools under the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program.

For school year 2024-2025, the ECBOE will continue its participation in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

No further action is required of parents or guardians, according to a release.

The USDA provision allows your child(ren) to participate in the school meal programs without having to pay a fee or submit a meal application.

CEP is a provision of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, which allows schools and school districts in low-income areas to eliminate school meal applications and serve breakfast and lunch at no charge to all enrolled students. CEP gives food service professionals more time to focus on preparing nutritious meals that their students will enjoy and gives students more time to eat those meals by cutting down on time spent in the lunch line. More importantly, by offering all students a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no cost, CEP helps ensure more students come to class well nourished and ready to learn.

Escambia County Board of Education will offer healthy meals every school day. Breakfast and lunch meals will follow the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for healthy school meals, so please encourage students to participate. “In the operation of child feeding programs, no child will be discriminated against because of race, sex, color, national origin, age or disability.”

Parents or guardians who need further information may contact Susanne Boutwell, child nutrition program director 251-368-1920

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