Kingsport City Schools
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Community eligibility enables schools to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students and eliminates the need for schools to collect paper applications by basing reimbursement levels on “identified students.” Identified students are either directly certified based on their household’s participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or cash assistance), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), those considered homeless, migrant, runaway, Head Start, or foster children. Students enrolled in CEP schools will no longer be required to complete a free and reduced meal application. Every enrolled student will be able to eat both breakfast and lunch free of charge without filling out any forms.
Benefits of the CEP include more students eating healthy meals and being ready to learn without stigma; less administrative work due to processing applications and collecting unpaid meal fees from families; improved financial viability of the school nutrition program since USDA would reimburse 93% of meal participation at the highest rate for these schools in our district; and overall, CEP will benefit KCS families, especially those who do not qualify for free and reduced meals but still have financial need.
The following five KCS title schools will participate during the 2023-24 school year: Palmer Early Learning Center, Jackson Elementary School, Kennedy Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School and Sevier Middle School.
Students enrolled in CEP schools will no longer be required to complete a free and reduced meal application. Every enrolled student will be able to eat both breakfast and lunch free of charge without filling out any forms.
Students will continue to have the option to add money to their accounts in order to purchase food items outside the reimbursable meal, such as ala carte items or seconds. Parents can still upload money to student’s accounts via LINQConnect.com.
Nothing has changed from the previous school year at your child's school.
All students who qualify for free or reduced lunch at the schools that are not part of the CEP program will still receive the benefit and are encouraged to apply. The Free and Reduced online application can be found online at k12k.com.
Should a household have students enrolled in both CEP and Non-CEP schools, and the child at the Non-CEP school will need a Free and Reduced online application completed.
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