Great news! Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, paper applications for free and reduced lunch are no longer needed. 

All six Northampton Public Schools will have the CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) for 2024-2025 school year.

Effective October 26, 2023 the USDA amended the rules for CEP. This final rule amends the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) regulations by lowering the minimum identified student percentage (ISP) from 40 percent to 25 percent. Lowering the minimum ISP will give states and schools greater flexibility to offer meals to all enrolled students at no cost when financially viable. As a result of this rule, more schools are eligible to participate in CEP and experience the associated benefits, such as increasing students’ access to healthy, no-cost school meals; eliminating unpaid meal charges; reducing stigma; and streamlining program administration and meal service operations.

Community Eligibility Provision is an innovative provision that allows schools to serve free meals to all students while alleviating the administrative burden of collecting paper applications. Community eligibility allows for a healthier student body and a healthier school meal budget.

More information is available from the USDA.

More information is available from DESE.

Do you prefer not to share your free and reduced meal status?

Sharing Opt-Out Form for 2025