Two Missoula elementary schools are now enrolled in a national program that covers free lunch and breakfast for students regardless of income.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, lets school districts in low-income areas enroll in free meals for students without requiring households to fill out individual applications. At a June 11 board meeting, Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Micah Hill announced Lowell and Franklin elementaries are now part of the program.
“It’s one less barrier for families to have to handle,” Franklin Elementary Principal Greg Harrison said in a phone call with the Missoulian. “It’s a big deal.”
Lowell and Franklin meet the threshold for directly certified students, meaning they don’t need to apply for free and reduced meals because they’re already automatically certified through the state via programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or their housing status, MCPS food services supervisor Stacey Rossmiller said.
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Under the Community Eligibility Provision, all meals served at Franklin and Lowell schools will qualify for 100% reimbursement, she explained.
“Every student in those schools is eligible for a free lunch,” Rossmiller said, adding everyone can now eat free of charge. Additionally, the way CEP works takes away the stigma for families of being on free and reduced lunch programs since parents won’t have to fill out applications for their students.
About 62.8% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch at Franklin, and roughly 70% of students at Lowell qualify, according to MCPS spokesperson Tyler Christensen. Those numbers, known as the identified student percentages, are used to determine CEP eligibility for the 2024-2025 school year.
Harrison said his goal as Franklin’s principal is to take burdens and barriers away from families to make education more accessible — being able to offer free meals to students aids with this.
“If you’re hungry, you’re going to have a much more difficult time learning,” he said.
As the cost of living in Missoula continues to trend upward, Rossmiller said there are many MCPS families who qualify for free or reduced lunch (which brings rates down to about 47 cents a meal). Parents struggle with the reduced rate, however, because it’s typical for families to make too much to qualify for free lunches but not enough to comfortably afford those meals.
She added the program takes the financial burden off the school district’s general fund.
Amy Allison Thompson, executive director of the Missoula Food Bank, said the organization is thrilled two Missoula schools are enrolling in the Community Eligibility Provision.
As housing costs continue to rise in Missoula, those effects trickle down to children. The primary reason families come to the food bank is because of steep housing costs impacting their ability to put food on plates, Thompson said, and paired with higher inflation rates, it’s harder and harder for parents to make ends meet with nutrition. Sometimes, food bank staff sees parents skip dinner to prioritize feeding their kids.
The food bank has also seen an increased demand for its “EmPower Packs” — it’s a weekend program to get nutritious food to kids when school isn’t running. For the 2022-2023 school year, Thompson said the food bank handed out 1,100 packs per weekend, compared to 1,300 packs in 2023-2024.
She said CEP is a four-year program, which means lots of kids and families will get help for years to come.
“Access to food for kids is so important for them to be successful,” she said.
Zoë Buchli is the education reporter for the Missoulian.
