HB 22-1414/HB 24-1390 Healthy School Meals for All Program - 2024 Legislative Report

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum

Legislative report detailing Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All Program (HSMA), which funds participating public school food authorities through reimbursement for meals served to students who would otherwise pay full price. The report explains implementation results in the first year, including increased breakfasts and lunches, expansion of Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) participation, and impacts on program reimbursement revenue. It also documents program structure, funding mechanisms, definitions, participation by meal eligibility, reimbursement approaches, and planned program changes for 2024-25 to balance revenue and expenses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Definitions

Introduction

History

Program Structure

Funding Mechanism

Program Implementation

Participating School Food Authorities

Community Eligibility Program Implementation

CDE Staffing

Medicaid Direct Certification Pilot

Program Outcomes

Program Participation

Program Participation by School Meal Eligibility

Healthy School Meals for All Program Reimbursements

School Food Authority Feedback

Conclusion

Areas of Opportunity

Accomplishments

Program Changes

HB 22-1414/HB 24-1390 Healthy School Meals for All Program 2024 Legislative Report Submitted to: Educational Committee; Agriculture, Livestock, and Water Committee; and Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee By: Jenny Herman December 2024 School Nutrition Unit Colorado Department of Education 1525 Sherman St, Ste 309, Denver, CO 80203 HB 22-1414/HB 24-1390 Healthy School Meals for All Program Legislative Report 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Definitions 3 Introduction 5 History 5 Program Structure 5 Funding Mechanism 7 Program Implementation 7 Participating School Food Authorities 7 Community Eligibility Program Implementation 7 CDE Staffing 7 Medicaid Direct Certification Pilot 7 Program Outcomes 8 Program Participation 8 Program Participation by School Meal Eligibility 8 Healthy School Meals for All Program Reimbursements 9 School Food Authority Feedback 9 Conclusion 10 Areas of Opportunity 10 Accomplishments 10 Program Changes 10 HB 22-1414/HB 24-1390 Healthy School Meals for All Program Legislative Report 3 | Executive Summary | | --- | | The Healthy School Meals for All Program ( HSMA) provides funding opportunities for Colorado public school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program ( NSLP) and School Breakfast Programs (SBP) via reimbursement for meals provided to students who would otherwise pay full price for a meal.
In its first year of implementation, HSMA resulted in serving 37% more breakfasts and 30% more lunches to Colorado students compared to the previous school year. The largest increases were among students who previously paid for their meals.
Healthy School Meals for All required that sites eligible for the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) participate in CEP to maximize federal reimbursements. As a result, HSMA also saw an increase in the number of sites participating in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program, with a 978% increase compared to the previous school year.
High participation in the HSMA program meant that program reimbursements were roughly $46 million higher than originally anticipated for the first year of program implementation The legislature opted to make changes to the program for the following school year (2024-25) to help balance program revenue and expenses, and may revisit the program in future legislative sessions.

Definitions
| Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) refers to the federal program that enables schools to provide free meals to all students. To be eligible to operate CEP at the start of School Year 2023-24, a school, group of schools or district must have an identified student percentage (ISP) of 40 percent or greater. In September 2023, the USDA published a rule which reduced the eligibility threshold for CEP from 40% to 25% identified students, which took effect in Colorado in March 2024. Direct Certification refers to the process of using approved assistance program data to automatically approve eligible students for free or reduced-price school meals. Colorado uses an automated online system to directly certify households that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and the Migrant Education Program. Identified Student Percentage refers to directly certified students who receive free meals based on their participation in SNAP, TANF, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), Medicaid, or their status HB 22-1414/HB 24-1390 Healthy School Meals for All Program Legislative Report 4 as Migrant, Foster, Homeless/Runaway or Head Start students. The identified student percentage (ISP) is the number of directly certified students divided by the total number of enrolled students multiplied by 100. National School Lunch Program ( NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) refer to federal school meals programs that prov

FAQs

What does the Healthy School Meals for All Program (HSMA) provide to Colorado school food authorities?

HSMA provides funding opportunities through reimbursement for meals served to students who would otherwise pay full price, for Colorado public school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP).

How did HSMA perform in its first year of implementation?

In the first year, HSMA resulted in serving 37% more breakfasts and 30% more lunches compared with the previous school year, with the largest increases among students who previously paid for their meals.

Why does HSMA require participation in the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)?

HSMA requires sites eligible for CEP to participate in CEP to maximize federal reimbursements, which also led to a substantial increase in the number of participating CEP sites.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum