Newberg-Dundee Public Schools can once again serve free meals to all its students.
That was the decision from the Oregon Department of Education recently after the school district took steps to again qualify for the ODE’s community eligibility provision, also called the CEP. The edict from the ODE says, “schools or districts must have a required percentage of students identified for free meals and must agree to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students.”
ODE had notified the school district in spring 2023 that it was no longer qualified to provide free meals for all schools under the terms of the CEP.
“Individual students at local schools and all students at Catalyst Alternative High School could still receive free meals,” the school district said in a release. “However, free meals were no longer available to all students at all schools districtwide.”
District officials and staff have been working since the ODE decision to ensure that the percentage of identified students was calculated correctly to allow the district to be certified for CEP designation, the release said, adding that federal and state guidelines for CEP changed in late fall 2023, which allowed the school district to request CEP recertification mid-year.