Free breakfast and lunch for all students no matter their family’s income level could be returning to Jim Thorpe Area School District next year.

According to Superintendent Robert Presley at a recent committee meeting, Jim Thorpe’s board plans a vote on opting into a Community Eligibility Provision which, according to the state Department of Education, is a reimbursement option for districts that wish to offer free meals to all children in high poverty schools.

According to the CEP program requirements, at least 40% of students in a district must be directly certified as having qualified for free or reduced lunch by an office such as Medicaid or something similar.

“In Jim Thorpe, we are currently at around 50% of students who are directly certified,” Business Manager Ken Marx said.

According to figures presented by Marx last week, Jim Thorpe would be looking at an $87,709 loss in the 2023-24 food service budget under the CEP program as opposed to almost $118,000 under the current system. Depending on family income levels, some students pay full price for lunch, while others may pay a reduced rate or get the meal for free.

The more students who would eat breakfast and lunch at school under CEP would lower the food service deficit Marx projected.

“We talked about this and we said with the budget numbers playing out the way they are, this is a no brainer to enroll in this program because we want all students to get free breakfast and lunch,” Marx said. “Panther Valley went into CEP when I was there 7 or 8 years ago and it has really worked out well for them.”

School breakfast and lunch were free for all students across Pennsylvania in 2021-22 under a federal meal waiver, but that expired on June 30, 2022.

Pennsylvania, however, began its own universal Free Breakfast Program last fall. The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently announced that more than 23 million breakfasts have been served to students across the state through the program.