Alex Singer, manager of nutrition services, told the Central School District 13J board that the district has reapplied for and is “currently approved to operate under CEP through the 2829 school year at no charge to students.” He said CEP lets the district serve breakfast, lunch, supper and snack to students without collecting household applications.

Singer described recent staff changes and four new hires in the nutrition department. He said the program closed the prior school year with a positive fund balance despite increased food and operational costs and that meal participation counts were slightly up from the previous year.

On funding, Singer said he had spoken with Dustin Melton, director of child nutrition programs at the state education agency, and that current issues with SNAP did not affect the district’s ability to feed students "initially" because the district’s CEP approval covers the coming years. Singer reported the district’s direct-certification rate is 56.2%; under CEP that figure is multiplied by 1.6 to produce 89.92%, and he said the state is funding the remaining share so districts are effectively reimbursed at the full free rate for student meals.

Singer said the district must increase the price of nonreimbursable adult/staff meals from $5.00 to $5.75, effective Jan. 1, to comply with USDA rules that require districts not to subsidize staff meals in a way that would reduce reimbursement for student meals. He said nutrition reimbursements for September, October and November are in the state’s hands and that monthly funding was expected to continue for now.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the CEP eligibility calculation and staffing. Singer provided a breakdown of how direct certification (SNAP, foster care, Medicaid, McKinney–Vento, migrant status) is applied and listed staffing counts: 25 district nutrition staff including managers, an administrative assistant and a part-time driver, with distribution by site (six at the middle school, four at the high school, four at MAS and three at other elementary schools). He also described a local vendor pilot (a white-sauce pizza developed with a Gladstone-based company) that was paused by COVID and may resume.

No formal action was taken; the report was accepted for information.