Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students who normally get free or reduced meals at school may be eligible for a program to help your family buy groceries. This program is called the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer Program (P-EBT). 

The P-EBT program provides compensation benefits for in-school meals missed due to school closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Benefits will be retroactive to the start of the 2020-21 school year and will be provided through the end of the school year (June 2021). 

For each day that your student(s) lack access to an in-school lunch, P-EBT provides eligible families with $6.82 in benefits per student, per day. 

Students currently enrolled in District 15’s 2020-2021 free & reduced lunch program automatically qualify for the P-EBT program. These benefits are provided on a card that can be used like a debit card to purchase food at any grocery store that accepts LINK cards. The card will arrive in an unmarked envelope sometime in March. Please ensure your address is up-to-date in Skyward Family Access and keep the card so it can be reused when new funds are added.  If you wish to have your P-EBT card mailed to the school instead of your home address, you must notify the school that you want to do this. 

If you qualify for the free & reduced meal program and have not filled out the application for this school year, you will need to do so in order to receive these benefits. This application can be found here. Please print and fill out the needed information and return it as soon as possible to be qualified for the P-EBT benefits. 

Email to: jriener@d15.org

Deliver or Mail to:

Food Service Department
1011 N. Green St.
McHenry, IL 60050

To see if your family could qualify for the Free & Reduced Lunch Program, please refer to the income eligibility guidelines.

All students are eligible regardless of immigration status. P-EBT will not be considered under the public charge rule.