New Policy Makes It Easier for Community Eligibility Schools to Participate in E-Rate Program
End Notes
[1] The new policy is outlined in points 225-229 in “Report and Order on Modernizing the E-rate Program for Schools and Libraries,” Federal Communications Commission, released July 23, 2014, http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0723/FCC-14-99A1.pdf.
[2] Madeleine Levin and Zoë Neuberger, “Community Eligibility: Making High-Poverty Schools Hunger Free,” Food Research and Action Center and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 1, 2013, https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/10-1-13fa.pdf.
[3] Trent B. Harkrader, “E-rate guidance letter to Mr. Mel Blackwell,” Federal Communications Commission, July 31, 2012, https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-1196A1.pdf.
[4] In the year prior to implementing community eligibility, 82 percent of children at participating schools in Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan (the first three states to implement community eligibility) were approved for free or reduced-price meals. See Madeleine Levin and Zoë Neuberger, “Community Eligibility: Making High-Poverty Schools Hunger Free,” Food Research and Action Center and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 1, 2013, Figure 4,,
.[5] School year 2015-2016 is referred to in the context of E-rate as funding year 2015.
[6] See points 210-221 in Federal Communications Commission letter, released July 23, 2014, http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0723/FCC-14-99A1.pdf.
[7] See points 225-229 in “Report and Order on Modernizing the E-rate Program for Schools and Libraries,” Federal Communications Commission, released July 23, 2014, http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0723/FCC-14-99A1.pdf. Students approved for free meals without an application are known as “Identified Students” or “directly certified students” in the context of the Community Eligibility Provision. (See Question and Answer 14 in “USDA memo SP 21-2014 (v.2),” U.S. Department of Agriculture, revised July 25, 2014, http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/SP21-2014v2os.pdf.) They include children who are in foster care or Head Start, are homeless, migrant, or living in households that receive SNAP (formerly food stamps), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) benefits, or Medicaid in areas approved for USDA’s Medicaid Direct Certification Demonstration Projects.
[8] See point 217 in Federal Communications Commission letter, released July 23, 2014, http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0723/FCC-14-99A1.pdf.