According to Marcy Roof, part of the Watonga Public Schools administration, all students will again receive free breakfasts and lunches during the 2025-26 school year. This is year two of a three-year agreement with the Community Eligibility Provision.
That program allows high needs schools to offer free breakfasts and lunches to all students but does not require households to apply, fast-tracking student access to nutritious food.
CEP is a federal program and part of the National School Breakfast and Lunch programs. Rather than collecting individual household information for applications, schools in low-income areas enter the CEP program and can feed all students at no charge, eliminating any stigma attached to free or reduced meal eligibility.