Free student meals cut for some schools next school year in Charlotte County

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. —

According to Charlotte County Public Schools, eight schools will continue to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which is a federally funded program. The program allows schools and districts in low-income areas to serve meals at no cost to students without needing any applications.

After Hurricane Ian's impact in 2022, the school district has participated in CEP. But based on updated federal eligibility requirements tied to the percentage of students who are directly certified, some schools in the county do not meet the threshold required to remain in the program.

Direct certification is when there are students who automatically qualify for meal assistance through participation in federal programs like SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, Foster, Homeless, Migrant, Runaway or Head Start.

The following are the eight Charlotte County schools that will provide free breakfast and lunch to all students for the next four years:

• Peace River Elementary School
• Baker/Pre-K Center
• The Academy
• Neil Armstrong Elementary School
• Kingsway Elementary School
• Meadow Park Elementary School
• Port Charlotte Middle School
• Murdock Middle School

The following other Charlotte County schools will no longer quality for CEP for the next four years:

• Deep Creek Elementary School
• East Elementary School
• Liberty Elementary School
• Myakka River Elementary School
• Sallie Jones Elementary School
• Vineland Elementary School
• Charlotte Harbor Center
• L.A. Ainger Middle School
• Punta Gorda Middle School
• Charlotte High School
• Port Charlotte High School
• Lemon Bay High School

Charlotte County Public Schools encourages families with students at schools that do not qualify for CEP to complete a free and reduced-price meal application after July 1. You can read the full release provided by the school district for additional information.

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