Every student attending a Hartford Public School will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch, regardless of family’s income or student’s home address, for at least the next four years.

Besides eliminating any remaining stigma for those receiving free meals, this cuts the excess paperwork — and associated costs —  for the school system. Administered by the USDA,  the Community Eligibility Provision, a regulatory change that took place as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, now makes it possible for districts in high poverty areas, to offer free meals to all students without processing individual families’ paperwork. The 2014-2015 school year was the first time schools could participate.

“Last year, 35 Hartford Public Schools – mostly neighborhood schools – were eligible to participate in CEP. But, improvements in the state and federal electronic reporting system for determining the number of families at poverty level made it possible to expand CEP to the 13 magnet schools that were not eligible,” says a spokesperson for the Hartford Public Schools.

Last year, Achievement First Hartford, New Haven, New London, and Waterbury participated, though a number of other school districts were already eligible at the time, including Bridgeport, East Hartford, Hartford, Meriden, and Windham.

The magic number for participation? A minimum of 40% of students at the school must have met the criteria during the previous school year.