The State of California has committed to serving free meals to all students on campus this upcoming school year. This commitment continues the program initiated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which provided free meals to all students during the pandemic. Therefore, ALL students on campus will be eligible to receive one free breakfast meal and one free lunch meal per day. (Please check your student's school schedule for serving times; breakfast is only served during morning recess at most elementary, K-8, and middle schools.) Additional meals and a la carte items will be charged full price. Please click here to view Nutrition Services' Data Confirmation Packet for more information.
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) 3.0 Update
P-EBT is a federal program that gives eligible households food benefits to replace in person school meals that children missed due to the pandemic. P-EBT benefit levels are based on the amount of time a student missed school meals because they attended school through independent study (IS), or attended school in-person but were absent presumed due to COVID-19. P-EBT 3.0 includes benefit months August 2021 through May 2022 for School Year 2021-22 and benefit months June through August 2022 for Summer P-EBT.
School-aged children are eligible for P-EBT 3.0 Benefits if they were:
- Eligible for free/reduced price meals during SY 2021-22 or summer 2022.
- Enrolled in a school participating in the National School Lunch Program/School Breakfast Program or a Provision school during SY 2021-22; AND
- Did not attend school in-person because of COVID-19 during SY 2021-22. This includes students who were enrolled in Independent Study, California's version of virtual learning, as well as students who had five or more excused absences in any given month.
School-Aged Children will get a standard benefit amount of $7.10 for each day the student did not attend school in person in SY 2021-22. This includes days the student attended school through Independent Study or all absence days in a month wehre the student had greater than five excused absences. In addition, school-aged children eligible for Summer P-EBT benefits will get a standard benefit amount of $391.
- Please visit https://capandemic-ebt.org/ for more detailed information.
- Call P-EBT Helpline at 877-328-9677 Monday - Friday from 6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
- P-EBT is not administered by IUSD. It is operated by the California Department of Social Services with the California Department of Education.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Families Forward
If families need food assistance, Families Forward offers a drive-thru food pantry Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., located at 8 Thomas Drive in Irvine. The drive-thru stations provide non-perishable items to families each week. No appointment is necessary. Visit Families Forward for more information.
Families Forward also offers counseling services, housing programs, career services and more.
Additional Long-Term Food Assistance and Community Resources
211 OC – Is a resource center to link families to a variety of Orange County services, including food, the CalFresh program, housing, military and veteran services, and more.
How You Can Help
If you are able, please consider donating non-perishable items to Families Forward. These items can be delivered to their drive-thru pantry (M-F) 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Below is a list of most needed items.
- Cereal
- Pasta sauce and Dried Pasta
- Rice (1lb and 2lb bags)
- Peanut butter
- Canned chicken and tuna
- Diapers (sizes 5 and 6)
- Baby wipes
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
