All students enrolled in a qualifying Johnston County Public School (with the exception of 5 non-qualifying schools) will receive a healthy Breakfast and lunch at no cost to the household this upcoming school year through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). 

WHAT IS CEP?

The overall purpose of the CEP is to improve access to nutritious meals for students in high poverty areas by providing meals to all students “at no cost” to the household without requiring families to apply for meal benefits.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

 A district becomes eligible for CEP if 40% or more of students in a district are already certified to eat for free without filling out an application. This includes “children directly certified for free school meals through data matching because their households receive SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations benefits, and in some states, Medicaid benefits; and children who are certified for free school meals without an application because they are homeless, migrant, runaway, enrolled in Head Start, or in foster care,”.  Johnston County Public Schools had a 36.79% rate and therefore was unable to qualify for district wide CEP. Therefore, the district grouped as many schools as possible to meet the minimum 40% requirement. All sites (except 5) were able to qualify

QUALIFYING SITES:

All Johnston County Public Schools except for the 5 schools listed below.

NON-QUALIFYING SITES:

• Clayton High

• Cleveland Elementary

• Cleveland High

• Corinth Holders High

• Powhatan Elementary

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Households of students that attend a qualifying CEP school will no longer need to submit a Free and Reduced Meal Benefit Application for the upcoming school year. Students that attend a non-qualifying school will still have the opportunity to submit a meal benefits application in order to qualify for free, reduced, or paid eligibility status. Applications for the 2023-2024 school year will be accepted starting July 10, 2023.

A LA CARTE

A variety of Smart Snack compliant snacks and beverages will still be available for purchase from all sites. The program accepts cash, checks, and prepayments via the online LINQ Connect family portal.