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July 31, 2014

Dear Superintendents:

I  hope you and your team have had some time this summer to recharge for the new  school year.

As  you have likely heard, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched a  new program that can help improve child nutrition and may be available to your  schools. The Community Eligibility  Provision (CEP) of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 allows qualifying  high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools to offer free breakfast  and lunch to *all* students without  requiring families to complete an annual household application, providing the  nutrition and energy children need to be healthy and ready to learn. CEP is a powerful tool to both increase child  nutrition and reduce administrative burdens at the district and school levels,  saving staff time and resources.

Eligible  schools or LEAs that choose to participate in CEP receive full federal  reimbursement for up to 100 percent of meals served, depending on the school's or  LEA's poverty percentage, which is determined by its share of "identified students"  who automatically qualify for free meals based on their family's enrollment in other  programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Head  Start. If your schools or district serve  40 percent or more identified students, they are eligible to participate in CEP  – as a district, a group of schools, or one school. Additionally, your State Department of  Education and State Child Nutrition Offices are good resources for specific CEP  eligibility questions.

CEP  has already been successfully implemented in 4,000 pilot schools across the  country with very positive results: in schools participating for two years,  breakfast participation rose by 25 percent and lunch participation by 13  percent. Enrolled schools have experienced  better test scores, higher attendance, and fewer administrative burdens.

I  know that data from USDA's annual household applications is used in a variety  of contexts. Most importantly for  schools, programs under Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary  Education Act of 1965, use poverty data to determine school eligibility and  allocations.  The U.S. Department of  Education (ED) has developed guidance to help LEAs  navigate the interactions between CEP and Title I, Part A. If you are interested in commenting on this  guidance or have questions about how it applies to your circumstances, please  send them to:  OESEguidancedocument@ed.gov. In addition, specific Title I questions may be  directed to Todd Stephenson, at todd.stephenson@ed.gov or by phone at  (202) 205-1645. Lastly, for guidance regarding  CEP and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, please see this June  11, 2014, letter to Chief State School Officers – http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/

As  the upcoming school year is quickly upon us, it is my hope that those of you  who are eligible and have begun the process necessary for CEP participation will  take the final necessary steps to commit to implement CEP by the August 31,  2014, deadline.

**To assist you in  this process, ED and USDA staff will be part of an upcoming webinar  highlighting the lessons learned of state and local school officials, where participants  considering CEP implementation or with implementation issues will be able to  ask questions of other participating school leaders.  The webinar is scheduled for Friday, August 1,  2014, at 2 p.m. EDT.  Please register for  the webinar using this link:**   http://ems6.intellor.com?p=600320&do=register&t=1.  **Call  participants may send questions beforehand or during the webinar to this e-mail  address:**communityeligibility@who.eop.gov****

I  strongly support CEP, which can help give students the opportunity to learn and  thrive by ensuring that every needy child receives healthy school meals at no  charge. I strongly encourage eligible LEAs  that have not yet adopted CEP to review our guidance and USDA's resources and carefully consider the  positive impact that CEP can have for your students. Thank you for your attention to this  critically important issue, and to each of you, best wishes for this school  year.



| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan