{
  "id": "R44568",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R44568",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 587712,
      "date": "2016-07-20",
      "retrieved": "2020-01-03T15:06:29.010576",
      "title": "Overview of ESEA Title I-A and the School Meals\u2019 Community Eligibility Provision",
      "summary": "The primary source of federal funding for elementary and secondary schools is the Title I-A program. Under Title I-A, the allocation of funds to schools, eligibility to operate certain programs, and accountability requirements are based in part in identifying students from low-income families. Historically, this has been achieved by using National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data. However, a new school meals eligibility option\u2014the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)\u2014has been implemented that changes the eligibility determinations for NSLP as well as the School Breakfast Program (SBP). \nThe Title I-A program is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and was last reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95) in 2015. Title I-A grants provide supplementary educational and related services to low-achieving and other students attending pre-kindergarten through grade 12 schools with relatively high concentrations of students from low-income families. There are also a number of accountability requirements that states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools must meet to receive Title I-A funds.\nThe number and percentage of a school\u2019s enrolled students from low-income families are used when LEAs allocate Title I-A grants to schools and to determine whether a school is eligible to use its Title I-A funds to operate specific programs. Additionally, schools need to identify which of their students are from low-income families to comply with certain accountability policies. Eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunch is commonly used as an indicator of low- income status for all of these purposes. \nThe child nutrition programs, including NSLP and SBP, were last reauthorized by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA; P.L. 111-296) in 2010. HHFKA also authorized the school meals eligibility option or CEP. CEP allows eligible schools and LEAs in high-poverty areas to offer free meals to all enrolled students without collecting household income information via applications. By no longer collecting household income information for free and reduced-price lunch, CEP can affect Title I-A grant allocations to schools, school eligibility to operate specific programs, and accountability policies. Thus, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has published policy guidance that provides LEAs and schools implementing CEP with alternatives for identifying students from low-income families for Title I-A purposes. \nThis report begins with a description of the school meals programs and CEP. It then describes Title I-A grant allocations and eligibility for specific Title I-A school programs and discusses the low-income data that can be used for these purposes and the data alternatives for CEP schools. Last, the report describes Title I-A accountability provisions and discusses the low-income data that can be used for these purposes and data alternatives for CEP schools. \nNOTE: The 114th Congress has been working on the next reauthorization of the school meals and other child nutrition programs. This report does not discuss any proposed changes to CEP or other school meals policies. For information on the ongoing reauthorization of the child nutrition programs, including proposals to change CEP, see CRS Report R44373, Tracking the Next Child Nutrition Reauthorization: An Overview, by Randy Alison Aussenberg.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4810,
          "name": "Elementary & Secondary Education"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Education Policy",
    "Health Policy"
  ]
}