PantryPath Research · School Hunger Atlas
School hunger in District of Columbia
0% certified free/reducedDistrict of Columbia reports 235 public schools serving 90,782 students. Per-student free and reduced-price certification counts are suppressed in the Common Core of Data for District of Columbia — see the methodology note below. 185 schools (82% of NSLP participants) operate under Community Eligibility Provision.
91K
Students enrolled
235
Public schools (CCD)
185
CEP / Provision 2 schools
1
Counties in atlas
Note on District of Columbia's free/reduced certification counts
District of Columbia is one of several states where per-student free and reduced-price certification counts are not reliably reported in the 2023–24 Common Core of Data. This can happen when a state operates universal-free meal policies or relies almost entirely on Community Eligibility — students are not individually certified because the school feeds everyone at no charge. School and CEP counts on this page are accurate; the eligibility rate reads as 0% because the underlying per-student counts are suppressed, not because no students qualify. See methodology for details.
District of Columbia by county
← Back to national atlasToggle between the school-food-access composite, free/reduced eligibility, CEP share, direct-certification rate, and SAIPE school-age poverty. Hover a county to see schools, enrollment, and the underlying certification mix.
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District of Columbia at a glance
Free/reduced
0.0%
Share of enrollment
CEP share
82%
Of NSLP schools
Direct cert
47.0%
SNAP/TANF/Medicaid
NSLP schools
96%
Serve NSLP meals
5–17 in poverty
19.9%
Census SAIPE 2023
Access score
0.44
Composite 0–1
The access score is a 0–1 composite weighted 50% eligibility, 30% CEP share, 20% NSLP share — a visualization and ranking aid, not a direct measurement. See methodology.
County-level hotspots
Top five counties across 1 in District of Columbia.
Highest free/reduced share
Certified ≤185% FPL per enrollment
- 1 District of Columbia, District of Columbia 0.0%
Highest CEP adoption
Of NSLP schools — min. 3 NSLP schools
- 1 District of Columbia, District of Columbia 82%
Largest enrollment
Total students in CCD universe
- 1 District of Columbia, District of Columbia 91K
Every county in District of Columbia
All 1 counties with school counts, enrollment, certification mix, CEP adoption, and the SAIPE 5–17 poverty backdrop.
| County | Schools | Enrollment | Free/reduced | CEP | Direct cert | 5–17 poverty | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia, District of Columbia | 235 | 90,782 | 0.0% | 82% | 47.0% | 19.9% | 0.44 |
District of Columbia school meals guide
How free and reduced-price school lunch eligibility works, application steps, and what to do if your child's school is not in CEP.
School meals guideSummer meals
When the school year ends, NSLP and CEP stop. The Summer Food Service Program and Summer EBT fill the gap for the 0 children who rely on school meals in District of Columbia.
Summer meals guideFamilies with children
SNAP, WIC, Head Start, and the full federal-program stack for households with kids — the assistance ecosystem around the school cafeteria.
Families guideDistrict of Columbia child poverty
The sibling atlas — county-level child poverty across District of Columbia. Free/reduced eligibility and child poverty track each other closely but not perfectly.
District of Columbia child poverty atlasDistrict of Columbia pantries
Verified food pantries, food banks, and meal programs across District of Columbia — open weeknights, weekends, and through the summer gap.
District of Columbia pantry directoryMethodology
How we aggregated NCES Common Core of Data school-level records to counties,
proxied CEP from lunch_program == 2,
and layered SAIPE school-age poverty — plus the access-score formula.