More Than 28,000 Schools Can Become Hunger Free

The Community Eligibility Provision is a powerful new tool to ensure that low-income children in high-poverty neighborhoods have access to healthy meals at school.  Established in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, next year community eligibility will allow more than 28,000 schools in high-poverty neighborhoods to offer nutritious meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to all students at no charge.^[1]  By eliminating school meal applications and fees, community eligibility streamlines meal operations, reduces administrative burdens for schools and families, and reduces stigma that children, especially teens, sometimes face if they eat school meals.

School districts can offer community eligibility district-wide or in selected schools within a district if more than 40 percent of their students are “Identified Students” — that is, approved for free meals without an application based on data from other programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) that serve low-income children.

Community eligibility has been phased in over the last three years.  Approximately 4,000 schools in 600 schools districts in low-income communities across 11 states now offer community eligibility.^[2] 

Because community eligibility is easy to adopt and simplifies program administration, districts of all kinds have successfully implemented it.  Cities like Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Lansing, Michigan; Buffalo and Rochester, New York; and Akron and Cleveland, Ohio, have successfully implemented community eligibility district-wide.  Some large cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City, have implemented community eligibility for some but not all schools.  Charter schools and much smaller districts also have successfully implemented community eligibility.

Community eligibility is making a profound difference for students and schools.  In schools in Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan that participated in community eligibility for two years, lunch participation rose by 13 percent, which resulted in more than 23,000 additional children eating lunch daily, and breakfast participation increased by 25 percent, which resulted in more than 29,000 additional children eating breakfast daily.^[3]

Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, high-poverty schools and school districts in all states will be eligible to adopt community eligibility to help reduce hunger and make school meal programs more efficient.  States were required to publish lists of eligible schools and school districts for the 2014-2015 school year by May 1, 2014.  School districts have until August 31, 2014 to opt in.

Most states have now published their lists of eligible schools and districts.  Those lists show that more than 28,000 schools serving predominantly low-income students are eligible to offer community eligibility for the next school year.  These schools represent more than one in five schools in the United States.  More than 3,000 school districts — one in five U.S. school districts — could offer community eligibility district-wide.^[4]

The table below summarizes how many schools and entire school districts in each state are eligible for community eligibility.^[5]   School districts that are considering adopting community eligibility, as well as other stakeholders, can find resources and suggested steps to facilitate the transition to community eligibility in our implementation guide.^[6]