1. Are Provisional Programs Right for Your District?
Moderators:
Carrie Pearse, Program Specialist
Rachael Burnham, Program Specialist
For moderator:
Good afternoon! Thank you for joining the “Are Provisional Programs Right for your District?” Panel. This session is for food service personnel and district staff who currently participate or are eligible to participate in provision programs.
Moderators:
Carrie Pearse is a program specialist with the Colorado Department of Education, Office of School Nutrition, where she oversees provisional programs and the Colorado Child Nutrition Hub. Carrie is a Registered Dietitian, with a Masters of Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health. Prior to OSN, her work experience includes leadership roles in marketing and fundraising in non-profit and corporate sectors and public health nutrition.
Rachael Burnham started with CDE OSN in December of She oversees the Free and Reduced Price School Meal Program, Verification and Direct Certification. Prior to CDE OSN she worked at the district level processing applications, conducting verification and direct certification. This will be her 4th year working with Child Nutrition Programs.
Panel:
Jill Kidd is the Director of Nutrition Services for Pueblo City Schools. Jill is the Past President of CSNA and is the current Industry Chair, she currently serves on the SNA Public Policy and Legislation committee and recently served as a member of the School Nutrition Association Board of Directors. Jill is a member of the Pueblo Community College Culinary Arts Advisory council and the Pueblo Alliance for Food Access.
An innovator in classroom breakfast programs, Pueblo City Schools has served universal breakfast in the classroom for 20 years and implemented the Community Eligibility Provision districtwide in 2015.
Tammy Brunnar is the Nutrition Services Supervisor at Harrison School District. 22 years ago, Tammy started as a volunteer mom. Then started reading those signs posted “kitchen help needed”  The rest is history, so they say….Tammy has had the opportunity to be the Supervisor of Nutrition at Harrison School District #2 for 7 years now, where she is looking forward to conquering any and all challenges that come our way.
Aaron Oberg is the Director of the School Finance Division at the Colorado Department of Education. The School Finance Division includes the Field Analyst Support Team (at-risk, pupil count and transportation audits). At-risk pupils and student count represent the drivers in school district funding from the state (School Finance Act). Aaron’s prior experience includes Aurora Public Schools (Budget Director and Co-CFO), Adams 12 Five Star Schools, and Brush School District (School Business Officer).

2. Panel Introductions
Jill Kidd, MS, RD, SNS Director of Nutrition Services Pueblo City Schools Tammy Brunnar Supervisor, Nutrition Services Harrison 2 School District Aaron Oberg Director, School Finance Division Colorado Department of Education
Moderator Introductions

3. Together We Can Colorado Department of Education Vision
All students in Colorado will become educated and productive citizens capable of succeeding in society, the workforce, and life.
CDE Office of School Nutrition Mission
The Office of School Nutrition is committed to ensuring all school-aged children have equal access to healthy meals by supporting, training, and connecting Colorado’s child nutrition community.
(Carrie) Thank you for joining the provision program panel. Thank you Kay for the introductions.
Before we get started, we would like to share the CDE Office of School Nutrition Mission. Please take a few minutes to read through our mission.

4. Session Goals
Learn about the provision program requirements: Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and Provision 2
Understand the benefits and challenges of provision programs
Determine whether provision programs are right for your school or district
(Carrie) The goals of the session are to:
Learn about the provision program requirements: Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and Provision 2
Understand the benefits and challenges of provision programs
Determine whether provision programs are right for your school or district
We will start with giving you background information on provision programs, followed by a question and answer session with the panel. Lastly, we will open up for audience questions at the end.

5. What is the Community Eligibility Program?
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
Allows high-need schools and districts to provide breakfast and lunch to all students for free
A district may implement CEP in one school, a group of schools or district-wide based on eligibility
CEP operates on a 4-year cycle
Carrie

6. CEP Benefits Students enjoy free, healthy meals Reduced stigma
Higher participation
Reduced paperwork
Reduced unpaid meal charges
Possible increase in revenue
Simplified counting and claiming
Carrie

7. Impact of CEP CEP participation continues to grow Nationwide Colorado
In , CEP reached 9.7 million students
55% of eligible schools are participating
States with largest CEP growth increased breakfast participation far above national average
Colorado
In 2016–2017, CEP reached 36,000 students in 18 local educational agencies (LEA)
Source: Food and Research Action Center
8.5M
6.7M
Carrie

8. # of Identified Students Total Number of Enrolled
Who is eligible for CEP?
LEAs, groups of schools or individual schools with an identified student percentage (ISP) above 40%
Identified students include any student directly certified for a free school meal without the use of an application.
LEAs notified of CEP eligibility annually (April 15), To find out if your district or school is eligible, visit the OSN CEP webpage.
Identified Student Percentage (ISP)
# of Identified Students
Total Number of Enrolled
Students
(Rachael) In order to participate in CEP, the LEA, group of schools or individual school must have an ISP over 40%.
Identified students include any student who has been certified for free school meals without the use of a household application. This refers to students directly certified with documentation from:
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Extended eligibility with SNAP
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, Basic Cash Assistance and State Diversion only)
• Extended Eligibility with TANF
• Federal Distribution Program on Indian Reservation (FDPIR)
• Foster children certified through means other than an household application
• Migrant children certified by a migrant coordinator
• Runaway and homeless youth, as defined under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act or under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.
• Children enrolled in a federally funded Head Start Program, or a comparable state funded pre-kindergarten program
• Students approved by a local education official
Every April of the school year, all districts are required to submit their identified students and enrollment as of April 1 to determine the ISP for the upcoming year.

9. How are meals claimed under CEP?
Identified Student Percentage (ISP) x 1.6 (claim factor) = % meals reimbursed at the free rate. The rest are reimbursed at the paid rate.
(Rachael) Free Reimbursement rate: Breakfast 1.71 ; Lunch 3.22
Paid Reimbursement rate: Breakfast .29 cents; Lunch .36 cents
At a 62.5% ISP and above, you will receive a 100% free reimbursement.
In addition to claim rates, there are several factors all SFAS must to consider if CEP is financially beneficial to them.
For example,
Possible increase in participation
Reduction of unpaid meal charges, etc.
A Financial calculator is available upon request.

10. Community Eligibility Program (CEP)
Colorado CEP Challenges
Low SNAP Participation = Low ISP
CEP schools no longer qualify to receive federal and state reimbursement for reduced (Start Smart and Lunch Protection)
CRS– (4) Public School Finance Act of 1994
Tracking and coordination of at-risk pupil for at-risk funding
(Rachael)
ISPs do not reflect true need of school (free and reduced status)
CEP schools no longer qualify to receive federal and state reimbursement for reduced (Start Smart/Lunch Protection)

11. What is at-risk funding?
Student October Count Data Submission
What is it?
Pupil Enrollment
Why is it important?
District pupil funding
District at-risk funding
Free lunch count
Acceptable Documentation for CEP
Direct Certification
Family Economic Data Survey (FEDS)
(Rachael) Every October, all districts are required to submit pupil enrollment – which is used for additional school funding. While several factors come into play when determining a district’s at-risk funding, the most significant factor is the total number of students reported as free lunch eligible. This is largely determined from data provided by the free and reduced application. Since the free and reduced application is eliminated with CEP, schools must use alternative sources of data to receive at-risk funding – this being FEDs or DC.
It is important to note, CEP does not eliminate the need for forms collected from families.

12. Addressing At-Risk Funding Issues
Once a student is identified as free lunch eligible, the free status for at-risk funding purposes will follow them throughout the 4 year CEP cycle as long as they continue to be reported at the school.
Option to only target new students
Importance of relationship between food service and school stakeholders
At-risk funding coordinator, information technology, business official, school administration, food service personnel
Importance of direct certification
(Rachael) Here are some best practices and clarification on how CEP schools can streamline the at-risk funding process.

13. What is Provision 2? Provision 2 Community Eligibility Provision
Serves meals at no cost
No eligibility requirement to participate
* high free and reduced % recommended
4 year cycle
Claiming: collect applications and normal claiming in the base year to establish claim percentages for years 2-4 based on eligibility status (free, reduced, and paid)
Can implement by school, group of schools or districtwide, for either breakfast, lunch, or both
Can reset base year (claim %) if beneficial to district
Requirement of 40% or above ISP to participate
Claiming: ISP x claim factor
Can implement by school, group of schools or districtwide with ISP over 40%
Can reset ISP is beneficial to district
(Carrie) While the majority of eligible of schools are electing CEP - Provision 2 is a good option for schools with high free and reduced percentages, who have low ISPs and/or do not qualify for CEP. Both programs share the same benefits, while having a few differences.

14. Important Dates
April 1: Identified Student and Enrollment Data due to Office of School Nutrition (OSN) to determine ISP April 15: OSN notifies eligible districts of CEP eligibility May 1: OSN notifies eligible schools of CEP eligibility June 30: Intent to participate in CEP or Provision 2 due to OSN
(Carrie)

15. Carrie asks questions
Panel Discussion

16. What is your experience with provisional programs?
Panel Discussion
What is your experience with provisional programs?
What programs have you implemented? How long in the program? Are you districtwide, partial or one school? What is your role?

17. Panel Discussion
What went into your decision-making process to implement provision programs?
What decision makers were brought to the table? How long did it take (took extra year to do prep work)? Financial considerations (ISP, groupings to maximize ISP)? Resources you used?

18. What are your biggest successes with provision programs?
Panel Discussion
What are your biggest successes with provision programs?
Participation, student benefit – feeding students at no cost, at-risk funding has gone up, buy-in, ISP increases, counting and claiming, direct certificaion

19. What are your biggest challenges with provision programs?
Panel Discussion
What are your biggest challenges with provision programs?
Loss of funding, unforeseen losses in first year, communication among stakeholders

20. Can you share best practices on how you managed at-risk funding?
Panel Discussion
Can you share best practices on how you managed at-risk funding?
Examples, promoting the FEDs form, coordination between stake holders, what is school finance doing to improve at-risk funding practices with provisionals?

21. Thank you!
Questions?

22. Contact Information
For more information on CEP and Provision 2, please contact Carrie Pearse, Program Specialist, at
For more information on direct certification, please contact Rachael Burnham, Program Specialist, at
To find out if your district or school is eligible, visit the OSN CEP webpage