Closing Falling Water Elementary School has caused a new formulation on who qualifies for the federal government's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) that provides free lunches and breakfasts to all students at designated lower-income schools.
Carolyn Childs, who heads the child nutrition program for the county schools, said that caused seven schools to no longer be eligible starting with the upcoming school year.
They are Allen Elementary, Hixson High, Lookout Valley Middle/High, North Hamilton Elementary, Sequoyah High, Snow Hill Elementary and Soddy Daisy Middle.
Falling Water was a CEP school. The old school has been closed and merged with Ganns Middle Valley. The combined school is called Middle Valley Elementary.
Dr. Lee McDade, assistant superintendent, said the program has been a boon to the county schools, proving over half a million meals since it started in 2014 and also paying for much-needed cafeteria equipment.
Ms. Childs said the CEP schools see higher student participation in the meal program. She noted there is no stigma involved when everyone is free.
However, board member Greg Martin said he has problems when the government provides free meals "to a student whose parents make $100,000 and who live in a $250,000 house."
Rhonda Thurman, board member whose district includes many schools losing CEP status, said, "This is why I hate these kinds of program." She said families begin to depend on the programs, then they are suddenly taken away. She said, "Many parents may not have it in their budgets to start paying for meals for 3-4 kids."
She said a lot of food was wasted at CEP schools and a lot of meals were handed out "that were not needed."
Dr. McDade said it is expected that the eligibility standards are going to be made even stricter for schools that qualify for CEP.
Schools still in CEP are Alpine Crest, Barger, Battle, Bess T. Shepherd, Brainerd High, Brown Middle, Calvin Donaldson, Clifton Hills, Daisy, Dalewood Middle, Dupont, East Brainerd, East Lake Elementary and Middle, East Ridge Elementary, Middle and High, Hardy, Harrison, Hillcrest, Hixson Elementary and Middle, Lakeside, Lookout Valley Elementary, Orchard Knob Elementary and Middle, Red Bank Elementary, Middle and High, Rivermont, Soddy Elementary, Spring Creek, Howard, Brown Academy, Tyner Middle and Academy, Wolftever and Woodmore.
The program is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 "that allows schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) with high poverty rates to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. CEP eliminates the burden of collecting household applications to determine eligibility for school meals, relying instead on information from other means-tested programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families."