Pandemic EBT Local Administrative Grant
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided the California Department of Education $2.8 million grant for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) allowable administrative costs reimbursement.Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Web Page
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided the California Department of Education (CDE) $2.8 million to sub-award to local educational agencies (LEA) for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) administrative costs. The CDE will issue P-EBT Local Administrative Cost Grant awards to eligible LEAs in March 2022. LEAs may use these grant funds to reimburse allowable P-EBT costs accrued during the 2020–21 School Year (SY).
Eligible LEAs
Eligible LEAs include public school districts, county offices of education, direct funded charter schools, and private schools that met the following requirements in SY 2020–21:
- Participated in the National School Lunch Program and/or the School Breakfast Program
- Provided hybrid or distance learning instruction all or part of the SY
- Had P-EBT eligible students
Distribution of Funds
The CDE will automatically distribute funds to eligible LEAs. No separate application is required. Funding amounts are based on the number of P-EBT eligible students reported to the CDE through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) or through private school direct data collection in SY 2020–21. The funds that each eligible LEA will receive is as follows:
- 1 to 1,000 P-EBT students = $614
- 1,001 to 5,000 P-EBT students = $3,063
- 5,001 to 1,000,000 P-EBT students = $5,814
The CDE will distribute grant awards to LEAs no later than March 31, 2022.
Allowable P-EBT Costs
Allowable costs for P-EBT must have occurred in SY 2020–21 and include, but are not limited to, the following activities:
- Reporting to CALPADS student level information to support eligibility and card mailings, such as free and reduced-price eligibility and mailing address updates
- Reporting of learning models to monthly state issued surveys
- Reporting of participating site eligibility to state issued survey
- Collecting application solely for P-EBT purposes
- Communicating to households about P-EBT
- Establishing processes to ensure homeless students receive P-EBT cards
LEA Responsibilities
This subgrant is subject to the provisions Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR), parts 210, 215, 220, 245; and Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 200. Under such provisions, LEAs must deposit federal funds into the nonprofit school food service account and have a system in place to track the revenue received to reasonable and allowable expenses for P-EBT administration. LEAs are advised to retain all supporting documentation in accordance with 7 CFR, Part 253.5(h).
LEAs must apply funds to SY 2020–21 P-EBT costs by July 29, 2022. LEAs that do not wish to receive these funds may opt out by sending an email request on or before February 10, 2022, to the P-EBT email address provided below. The CDE will provide additional information such as payment details, accounting practices, and reporting prior to fund issuance.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding P-EBT Local Administrative Cost Grant awards, please contact the Nutrition Services Division by phone at 916-445-0850 or by email at PEBT@cde.ca.gov.
For more information about P-EBT, visit the P-EBT web page
. Schools can also find P-EBT materials for partners, including fact sheets, frequently asked questions, and more.