One out of every four kids in Oklahoma doesn’t always have enough food to eat.
No child should have to sit in class hungry, struggling to focus. Hunger makes it harder for students to learn, creates challenges in the classroom for students and teachers, and contributes to worse outcomes for our educational system. Yet for thousands of Oklahoma children, this is their reality.
Strengthening access to no-cost school meals and other proven nutrition programs can help ensure more children have the food they need to learn and thrive.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal program that helps schools in higher-need areas serve free meals to all students. By reducing paperwork for families and eliminating the stigma often associated with free or reduced-price meals, CEP helps ensure more children have consistent access to nutritious food. It also supports families who may not qualify for free or reduced-price meals but still struggle to afford everyday necessities.
CEP also helps schools increase the quality of their meals by raising revenue and leveraging economies of scale. But implementing this program is easier in some schools than others.
School leaders must carefully balance multiple factors to determine whether CEP is right for their school. To participate in CEP, schools must look at how many students qualify for programs like SNAP (food stamps), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), or FDPIR (Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations). The rate of students participating in these programs determines the amount the federal government will reimburse for each meal served.
As highlighted in a report published by Hunger Free Oklahoma, Oklahoma has found a smart way to help. In 2023, the state started using a new federal option to count students who get help from Medicaid (SoonerCare) in addition to the previously listed programs. The impact was tremendous! Before this change, only 382 schools were using CEP; after the change, that number jumped to 849 schools, more than double!
Now, almost 300,000 students in Oklahoma get free meals at school thanks to CEP. Even more schools could be implementing this program. 786 schools are eligible to implement CEP as of 2025 but are not currently participating.
CEP is a crucial program that makes our food safety net more effective. It helps schools, kids, teachers, and families. Oklahoma’s success shows how well it can work, especially when using the Medicaid option to reach more students. But there’s more to do.
- Leaders in Oklahoma and across the country should keep supporting CEP and the programs that help schools operate CEP, so every child can have the food they need to learn and succeed.
- School leadership can leverage the CEP program to feed more kids in their schools, serve more nutritious meals, and achieve better educational outcomes.
- Government leaders should find ways to make it easier for schools to utilize and scale the CEP program across the state, so all children in need can access no-cost meals.
If you want to learn more about CEP in your area, view our newly released report here: hfok.org/CEP24-25. You can also email Bailey Ashbaker, Hunger Free Oklahoma’s Senior Policy Analyst and Engagement Specialist, or sign up for the newsletter here: HungerFreeOK.org/join-newsletter.
CEP Data for School Year 2025-2026:
| School Year | CEP Schools | CEP District Wide | Students With Access to CEP | Students in Eligible Areas Not Accessing CEP |
| 24-25 | 849 | 256 | 277,458 | 322,029 |
| 25-26 | 844 | 274 | 275,193 | 307,092 |