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SECC and SSE approved for CEP Program

The Anderson County Board of Education approved the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year for Sparrow Early Childhood Center and Saffell Street Elementary.  The CEP Program will provide a healthy breakfast and lunch each day at NO CHARGE for ALL students enrolled at SECC and SSE.

How were Saffell Street Elementary and Sparrow Early Childhood Center selected?

To be eligible for the CEP, schools are required to have an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) of at least 40%.  The ISP is made up of those students who are directly certified for free meals (i.e., students directly certified through the SNAP, KTAP, Medicaid, and the foster child monthly downloads or on a certified list).  This percentage is given to us by the state government and does not include approved free/reduced lunch applications.

While 40% is the minimum, typically districts do not participate if the ISP is below 50%.  The funding per meal is determined by the ISP percentage; the higher the ISP percentage, the more funding per meal.  To equal the current amount of funding per meal, the ISP would need to be at 60%. Based on surveys, research, and information obtained about the CEP program, most districts can find ways to make the program work while maintaining the quality of food being served as long as the percentage is above 50%.  The average of the ISPs at the two schools chosen is 53.91%.

Current ISP percentages for Anderson County Schools:

  • Saffell Street Elementary - 57.07%

  • Ezra Sparrow Early Childhood Center - 50.52%

  • Anderson County Middle School - 40.36%*

  • Emma B. Ward Elementary - 37.88%

  • Robert B. Turner Elementary - 37.48%

  • Anderson County High School - 33.78%

*Note: Based on it's ISP percentage, Anderson County Middle School would technically qualify for the program but it's inclusion would reduce the ISP average of the group to 49.32%.  Using this information, the decision was made to start the program with SSE and SECC.