Families of all Vermont public school students and some independent school students are expected to receive at least $120 in federal food benefits this summer.
The state plans to provide $9.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to approximately 80,000 student families total, according to the Vermont Department of Education.
Families will receive $120 per student in a prepaid Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. The funds can be used to purchase groceries at grocery stores, farmers markets and convenience stores.
The Pandemic Fund, which will be distributed in August, will be a one-time payment. There are no income limits or requirements to receive the funds, which expire in about a year, according to Rosie Krueger, state director of child nutrition programs at the Department of Education.
“We always want Vermont families to have all the assistance they can get from the federal government,” Krueger said in an interview.
This windfall is the result of a combination of federal pandemic assistance programs and recent state legislative provisions. In December, Congress approved pandemic support for school meals, known as P-EBT, for the summer of 2023. The funds were intended to help children who received subsidized meals at school have access to food during the summer.
According to federal requirements, only students enrolled in schools participating in the federal food aid program were eligible for that aid.
But in 2022, Vermont passed a law requiring public schools to provide free breakfasts and lunches to students and to provide state funds to reimburse those schools. To receive reimbursement from the state, schools had to participate in the Federal School Lunch Program.
As a result, all Vermont public school students and some independent school students will receive federal benefit cards this summer. State officials did not specify how many independent schools will participate.
Preschool students at these participating schools are also eligible to receive a card.
The program appears to have received some attention in the Vermont legislature. Senator Jane Kitchell (D, Caledonia), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, during a debate on a bill that would make the free breakfast and lunch program in schools permanent, said that such benefits, she says. He pointed it out as an example of questionable budget allocation. means.
“A friend of mine in a senior management position got an EBT card for $120 over the summer,” Kitchell said at a committee hearing earlier this month. “And the family went on vacation to Rome last year and to Paris this year.”
Some of the governor’s officials received the cards, she said, “so there was a lot of anxiety about this benefit.”
Earlier this month, Congress approved a $29 million state fund for the Universal School Feeding Program. Kitchell objected.
She could not be reached for comment by phone or email on Monday. Education officials said the $120 summer EBT cards have not yet been shipped.
But state officials also distributed another round of $1.8 million in April as a P-EBT fund. The benefit was provided to families whose children were absent from school for COVID-19 related reasons between September 2022 and January 2023.
Another round of grants for absentees from February to May 2023 will be shipped with summer P-EBT grants to help children who were absent for COVID-19 related reasons during that period. families will receive $120 or more on the card. .
Anor Houghton, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont, a nonprofit campaigning for universal school lunches, said to families, “Please use your P-EBT card.” I called.
In addition to being a resource for families to buy food, she said, the cards have benefited Vermont’s economy by $9.6 million.
“Use this to go with your kids to support local farmers and have them pick beautiful, fresh produce at their local farmers market,” she said. “Or use it at the grocery store. Don’t waste these federal funds that could be used to support the food and agricultural economy.”