The Gloucester County School Board voted not to reenroll in the Community Eligibility Provision program and return to the paid lunch model beginning in the 2025-2026 school year during its regular monthly meeting held Tuesday evening in the T.C. Walker Education Center auditorium.
All students at the division’s eight schools received free meals at school, regardless of need, through the CEP program. Once students returned to in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic, districts were able to enroll individual schools in the program to provide free meals to all students if at least 40 percent of students would qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch. The division was reimbursed for the cost of some of these meals through the USDA.
As Central Food Service’s fund balance continues to diminish and the government reimbursement rate for meals falls, the sustainability of the program came into question.
“We are just about at zero when we project summer payroll into our reserves,” said...