The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a four-year alternative meal counting and collection procedure. Participation in the CEP improves program efficiency and reduces administrative burdens at the local level by simplifying the traditional operating procedures for meal eligibility and meal counting while eliminating the meal application process. For more information on the CEP, please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) CEP web page.
School food authorities (SFA) may apply for the CEP by individual site(s), by school groups, or by district. Currently, to apply for the CEP, the site, group of sites, or district must have an identified student percentage (ISP) of 25 percent or greater. The ISP is determined based on the number of directly certified students in the site, group of sites, or district. For more information on the application process and to calculate your SFA’s ISP, please refer to the CDE Community Eligibility Application Management Bulletin web page.
As a reminder, California Education Code Section 49564.3 requires public schools, charter schools, and county offices of education with high poverty schools to adopt a federal universal meal service provision, such as CEP or Provision 2. A school is considered high poverty if their ISP is 40 percent or greater.
Please note that if an SFA has sites that close or merge with other sites while participating in the CEP, program operators must notify the CDE by reaching out to their assigned School Nutrition Programs (SNP) Specialist. The SNP Specialist will help SFAs determine if reapplying for CEP is necessary.
To apply for the CEP, please note the following dates:
April 1, 2026—extract direct certification and enrollment lists
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) direct certification data extract for July 1 through March 31 is typically available to local educational agencies (LEA) April 7 through 10. Students identified as directly certified in this data extract may be included in the ISP if they were enrolled as of April 1. Please note that enrollment data should be extracted from the LEA’s student information system.
June 30, 2026—the deadline to apply for the CEP for school year 2026–27
The following forms are required when applying for the CEP:
- Form SNP-71, CEP–Application Checklist
- Form SNP-19, CEP–Implementation Request
- Form SNP-55, CEP–Identified Students Preapproval Review
- All source documents used to calculate the ISP
All forms are located in the Download Forms section of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System. Instructions on how to submit each form and the source documents are included on the SNP-71. Please reach out to your SNP Specialist if you are interested in applying and they will send you the information to get started.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact your county’s SNP Specialist. A current list of SNP Specialists is available on the CDE SNP Specialist Directory web page. You can also email SNPInfo@cde.ca.gov to be directed to your SNP Specialist.