From the 2017–2018 school year to the 2018–2019 school year, participation in the Community Eligibility Provision grew by 14 percent. Over 13.6 million children in 28,614 schools and 4,698 school districts are participating and have access to breakfast and lunch at no charge each school day through community eligibility.
This report provides an analysis of community eligibility implementation — nationally and for each state and the District of Columbia — in the 2018–2019 school year, and is based on three measures:
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the number of eligible and participating school districts and schools;
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the share of eligible districts and schools that have adopted community eligibility; and
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the number and share of eligible schools that are participating, based on the school’s poverty level.