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Summer 2022 P-EBT: Notice to Households
Recently, the USDA approved ISBE’s plan for Illinois for the 21-22 school year. All household inquiries regarding P-EBT will be directed to Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS). P-EBT information specific to parents, guardians, and recipients is found at https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=131776 or by contacting DHS at (833) 621-0737.
Here is a summary for who will receive the P-EBT Benefits.
- Eligible school is a school that claimed meals under the National School Lunch Program/Seamless Summer Option/School Breakfast Program in SY 21-22 (last school year).
- Student MUST have been enrolled in an eligible school as of May/June 2022. For a public school student, this must be the serving school in the Student Information System (SIS). This is a change from prior P-EBT issuance due to changes implemented by the USDA.
- Student must have been determined free or reduced price eligible for school meals using the SY 21-22 Household Eligibility Application no later than July 15, 2022, or enrolled in a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) approved school.
- For public schools, the SIS data element of FRL/low income indicator for SY 21-22 will be used to make this determination. Since SIS SY 21-22 is closed for updates, any data changes resulting in additional P-EBT issuances will be made directly with the Illinois Department of Human services (DHS). More details will be shared once available.
- For non-public eligible school students, a file will be uploaded securely in the Web-Based Illinois Nutrition System (WINS) with eligible students. More details will come soon regarding this process. Anticipated deadline for non-public school P-EBT data collection is Oct. 31, 2022.
- Summer 2022 P-EBT issuance will be $391 per eligible student.
2022-23 School Year Food Service Update
During the pandemic and throughout the 2021-22 school year, Congress authorized the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to grant waivers that covered rising food prices caused by supply chain issues. Those waivers allowed all K-12 students to receive free school breakfast and lunch, no matter their family’s income, from March 2020 through June 30, 2022.
Without an extension of these waivers by Congress, District 204 will shift back to pre-pandemic operations which requires paid meals for students who are not free or reduced-priced eligible. Therefore, the price for a paid lunch for the 2022-23 school year will be as follows:
- Elementary: $2.75 per meal
- Middle: $2.80 per meal
- High: $2.80 per meal
For lunch at all levels, students are required to take 3 of the 5 components offered and one component must be a full serving of fruit or vegetable.
These are the prices for one (1) reimbursable meal. An entree only or a second entree is $3.50 and a full second meal is $5.00
- Breakfast: $1.60 (all grades where breakfast is served)
(For breakfast, students are required to take at least 3 of the 4 components offered, at least one of which must be a full serving of fruit.)
Lunch Program Overview
Who to contact
- General Manager - Jill Ghosn - jill_ghosn@ipsd.org
- Administrative Assistant - Luis Rivera - 630-210-8050
- Lunch Account Help Desk - Katherine Nelson - 630-210-8055
Free and reduced meals
For Free and Reduced Meals, please
download an application below and email to carol_canada@ipsd.org or fax 331.244.0108:
English Application | Spanish Application
*PLEASE NOTE: Households are responsible for student meals until a letter is received stating your benefits are approved.*
Fee waivers
To apply for a fee waiver, visit the following page:
http://ipsdweb.ipsd.org/Subpage.aspx/FeeWaivers
Account refunds
Account refunds can be requested at the following page:
http://ipsdweb.ipsd.org/Forms/LunchAccountEdit.aspx
Documents and applications
Meals
Required components of a meal
Under the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 and the National School Lunch Program, the required components of a "meal" to be offered include: fluid milk, grains, meat/meat alternates, fruits, and vegetables. Students are required to take 3 of the 5 components offered and one component must be a full serving of fruit or vegetable.
https://www.isbe.net/Documents/nslp-meal-pattern-flyer.pdf
For the National School Breakfast, the required components of a "meal" to be offered include: fluid milk, grains and/or meat/meat alternatives, and fruits and/or vegetables. Students are required to take at least 3 of the 4 components offered.
What is in a District 204 meal?
The $2.75/elementary or $2.80/secondary meal that is available to all students includes: fluid milk, meat/meat alternate, two different fruits and/or vegetables, and breads/grains.
A second reimbursable meal is 100% chargeable to all free/reduced students. They are only entitled to one free/reduced price reimbursable meal. Single items are considered a la carte and do not qualify as a meal for free/reduced. The student's account will be charged for all a la carte items.
These are the prices for one (1) reimbursable meal. An entree only or a second entree is $3.50 and a full second meal is $5.00
Lunch/Breakfast meal prices (full-pay)
- Elementary: $2.75 per meal*
- Middle: $2.80 per meal*
- High: $2.80 per meal*
(*Students are required to take 3 of the 5 components offered and one component must be a full serving of fruit or vegetable.)
- Breakfast: $1.60 (all grades where breakfast is served)
(Students are required to take at least 3 of the 4 components offered, at least one of which must be a full serving of fruit.)
A la carte prices (all students)
- Milk: $.60 -- white (when purchased separately from meals)
$.70 -- flavored (when purchased separately from meals)
- Other a la carte items (besides milk): prices vary
Accounts, Payments, and Free & Reduced Meal Info
Student account balances
Electronic balance letters are sent on Tuesday and Thursday each week via email*:
- Low balance email to those with $10.00 or less in account (Tuesdays)
- Low balance email to those with $5.00 or less in account (Thursdays)
- Negative balance email to those with less than -$0.01 in account. (Tuesday and Thursday)
- For families that do not have an email on file with the district, the school office will contact these families as needed
* - emails are only sent to families with an email address in SIS
When a student account goes negative, students may ONLY charge a reimbursable meal (no a la carte items):
- When a student balance reaches the maximum negative amount (equivalent to 5 reimbursable meals), Schools will call the families of the students that have reached the maximum negative amount (equivalent to 5 reimbursable meals) to encourage families to bring the accounts up to date or send a lunch. If during the meal service time, a student who is past the maximum negative amount (equivalent to 5 reimbursable meals) obtains a lunch and is ready to checkout with the cashier, the student will be provided a reimbursable meal ONLY and charged to the students account.
Online meal and fee payments
Special Diets
Allergies and special dietary needs
Indian Prairie School District #204 and OrganicLife SmartFoodservice takes food allergies very seriously and takes every precaution to keep our cafeterias and kitchens safe for your children.
As such, OrganicLife does not purchase any foods that contain any type of nuts or tree nuts. All of our school kitchens are free of any type of nuts to eliminate the possibility of cross contamination. Not all manufacturers we contract with will state they have nut-free facilities, but they are required to label foods with nutritional information and ingredients. None of the ingredients in the manufacturers' facility lists include any nuts nor say made or processed in a plant that contains nuts.
That being said, as participants in the NSLP, please note we cannot guarantee all products or commodities allocated to District 204 are processed in a peanut/tree nut-free facility. If your child has a severe allergy, please contact the school nurse and/or Foodservice Director for further assistance.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) nondiscrimination regulation (7 CFR 15b), as well as the regulations governing the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, make it clear that substitutions to the regular meal must be made for children who are unable to eat school meals because of their allergy and special dietary needs, when that need is certified by a licensed physician.
Students with allergies or special dietary needs are required to have a signed physician's form filed with the Food Service Director. Each special dietary request must be supported by a statement, which explains the food substitution that is requested. It must be signed by a recognized medical authority.
The medical statement must include:
- an identification of the medical or other special dietary condition which restricts the child's diet;
- the food or foods to be omitted from the child's diet; and
- the food or choice of foods to be substituted.
Click here to download the form. Forms can be submitted to your school office.
School food service staff will work closely with the support people who are familiar with the needs of the child. The child's parents or guardians, teachers, occupational and physical therapists, special education staff, and the school nurse are valuable resources.
Schools may not charge children with disabilities or with certified special dietary needs who require food substitutions or modifications more than they charge other children for program meals or snacks.
Gluten-free diets
Students who follow the gluten-free diet can be provided with a gluten-free meal. In order to provide a gluten-free meal five (5) days advance notice is required so meal counts can be prepared. Gluten-free menus can be requested by contacting the Lunch Account Help Desk.
Students with gluten allergies or special dietary needs are required to have a signed physician's form filed with the Food Service Director in order to pay the published Lunch/Breakfast Meal prices. Each special dietary request must be supported by a statement, stating that they must be served gluten-free food. It must be signed by a recognized medical authority.
If your family is gluten-free but you don't have an official diagnosis the school district can accommodate the request and provide students with a gluten-free meal. The cost for a gluten-free meal without an official diagnosis is $5.00.
Every attempt will be made to mirror the gluten-free menu to the non-gluten-free menus.