June 9, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
For the last four years the DeKalb County School District has participated in a plan under the National School Lunch Program to provide free meals at school to all students.
During Thursday night’s monthly meeting, the Board of Education will decide whether to seek continued participation in the program.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
According to local data, the DeKalb County School District has maintained a 10% increase in the percentage of students who eat both breakfast and lunch district wide since it began participating in the CEP program in 2015-16. On average, 1,300 breakfasts and 2.300 lunches a day have been served.
Over the course of four years, more than 2.2 million meals have been served for free saving parents an estimated $750,000.
However, unless the school district can increase its number of “identified students” participating going forward, it could receive less reimbursement funds through the program. Under CEP, the higher the number of identified students, the higher the school district’s reimbursement per meal.
During the original cycle, the district reported 1,435 identified students with an attendance of 2,824. For the new cycle, the number of identified students has dropped to 1,224 with an attendance of 2,807 as of April 1.
According to school administrators, the DeKalb School District’s original average reimbursement per meal was $2.82 for lunch and $1.79 for breakfast. If the district applies for renewal the reimbursement could drop to $2.50 for lunch and $1.61 for breakfast. These number are approximate but it could mean a decrease in funding to the district of up to $160,000 for the year.
In order to continue the CEP program based on these numbers, the district would have to make up the loss by either implementing a grab and go breakfast service county-wide which could potentially add $90,000 in reimbursements or switch to a Department of Human Service Program serving Afterschool Snacks and Summer Foods which could mean an additional $80,000 in reimbursements.
The Board of Education will meet Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m. at the Ernest Ray Education Center. A work session will be held prior to the meeting at 6 p.m.
In other business, the Board will consider and act on outsourcing its school custodial service in a janitorial partnership with SMS.
The Board will consider adopting the school calendars for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
The agenda also calls for the Board to act on granting tenure to eligible teachers; consider and act on a differentiated pay plan for 2019-20; consider final approval of the 2019-20 budget; consider and act on a resolution and inter-local cooperation agreement; consider and act on board member exemptions for the 2018-19 school board academy; and the Director of Schools will give his monthly report on personnel plus any other business that may properly come before the Board.
The consent agenda is as follows:
*Authorization to make necessary line item transfers within the categories of the 2018-19 school budget and any category amendments.
*Consider and act on approval of local government hardware maintenance agreement
*Consider and act on 2019 Read to be Ready Summer Grant Budget Amendment
*Consider and act on 2018-19 Pre-K Budget Amendment
*Consider and act on the Carl Perkins Budget Amendment
*Consider and act on a Special Education contract with Brenda Pedigo, Visually Impaired Teacher
*Consider and act on a Special Education contract with Kealah Curtis, Licensed Physical Therapy Assistant
*Consider and act on a Special Education contract with Karen Nelson, Orientation and Mobility
*Consider and act on DeKalb Middle Cheer Camp, June 20-22
*Consider and act on Consolidated Federal Application Federal Programs & IDEA 2019-20
*Consider and act on declaring Surplus Property (Technology and Food Service)
*Consider and act on 21st Century Budget Amendment
*Consider and act on LEAP’s Budget Amendment
*Consider and act on additional Course Offering at DCHS
*Consider and act on Memorandum of Understanding with Tamara L. Beckman, Audit of Internal School Funds
*Consider and act on an overnight trip request for DCHS Soccer to attend the FHU Soccer Camp, Freed Hardeman University, Henderson, TN June 16-20