PARENTS: EVERY STUDENT IN OUR DISTRICT IS ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE DEBIT MEALS CARD. IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THIS DEBIT CARD PARENTS AND GUARDIANS MUST FILL OUT THE P-EBT CONSENT FORM AND RETURN TO THE DISTRICT OFFICE BY NEXT FRIDAY, JULY 17 BY 9AM. ALL STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE, BUT WE HAVE GET YOUR SIGNED FORM IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE BENEFIT. FORMS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE UNDER THE DISTRICT HEADING AND THE FIRST LINK P-EBT CONSENT FORM. WE ALSO HAVE THEM AVAILABLE OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT OFFICE WHICH WE WILL ALSO HAVE A FORM DROP OFF STATION AS WELL. WE WILL LEAVE A STACK ON THE BOARD IN RODS HARVEST FOODS IN YELLOW ENVELOPE MARKED P-EBT CONSENT FORM. FORMS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE BANK DRIVE THROUGH AND POSSIBLY THE POST OFFICE AS WELL. FORMS MUST BE TURNED IN BY NEXT FRIDAY. Turn in Forms at the bin outside the District Office that will be located on the bench and inside the door.
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT)
P-EBT provides nutrition benefits to families who have lost access to free or reduced-price school meals because schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible students and families will receive money on a new or existing EBT card to help fill the school meals gap. The benefit will be $5.70/day per student, retroactive to when school initially closed (for Montana the benefit through the end of the 2019-2020 school year will be $330/child). Families can get both P-EBT and “grab and go” meals from schools and community organizations that schools are serving during the pandemic.
All children ages 5 to 18 that were eligible for free or reduced-price school meals as of March 18, 2020 qualify for this benefit. This benefit will be issued through the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). The P-EBT card works like a debit card to purchase food items anywhere EBT benefits are accepted. DPHHS will notify families of this benefit. Families receiving SNAP will get the P-EBT benefit added to their existing EBT card. Non-SNAP families will be mailed an EBT card with the P-EBT benefit. Since children on free or reduced-price lunch automatically qualify for the benefit, families do not need to apply. DPHHS will automatically provide this benefit to families on SNAP, and is working with OPI and local school districts to obtain data from non-SNAP households who are eligible for P-EBT. DPHHS requests you provide the following information for all non-SNAP children ages 5 to 18 in your school district who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch as of March 18, 2020 .