Georgetown, S.C. - In compliance with the National School Lunch Act at 42 U.S.C. 1759 (a) and Proviso 1.68, the Georgetown County School District Board of Trustees adopted a resolution indicating their participation in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the School Lunch Act during its June 27, 2023 meeting.
Under the resolution, all students enrolled in a school in Georgetown County School District (GCSD) will be offered free breakfast and lunch during the 2023-24 school year.
"Participation in the CEP program will allow all of our students to enjoy a healthy breakfast and lunch each school day," said GCSD Board Chair William Gaskins. "Providing these meals at no cost helps to ensure our students have the nutrition they need throughout the school day to learn and achieve academic success. "
GCSD hopes participation in CEP will increase school meal participation. During the 2022-23 school year, GCSD served approximately 828,000 school lunches and hopes to increase this to 875,000 for the 2023-24 school year, an increase of approximately six percent.
Brent Streett, Executive Director for Food Services, shared, “Moving to district-wide CEP is a wonderful opportunity for our students and parents. This will take away any burden that students and parents felt about paying for school meals. We are hopeful that full CEP will increase participation in both breakfast and lunch. Be on the lookout for updated menus at our schools.”
CEP is a non-pricing meal service option for school districts in low-income areas and allows these districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students.