The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) provides the option to offer free meals to all students in eligible high poverty Local Education Agencies (LEA) and schools without collecting household applications.  Eligible LEAs and schools use a claiming percentage based on the number of identified students (primarily directly certified students) of at least 25%, multiplied by a factor of 1.6, to determine a free claiming percentage.  The difference between the free claiming percentage and 100% determines the percentage of meals to claim in the paid category. Please contact 573-751-7664 if you have any questions.