Arleen Ramos-Szatmary, the coordinator of School Nutrition Programs at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, recently sent a letter to participants in the national school lunch and/or school breakfast programs with details on the launch of the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program.
Summer EBT is a child nutrition program intended to reduce hunger and food insecurity for children who lose access to free school meals through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program during the summer when school is not in session.
The link to upload the first Summer EBT school reporting template will be active in the School Nutrition Electronic Application and Reimbursement System beginning May 1, 2024, she states.
“Similar to the Direct Certification process, individual student demographic information and meal eligibility data for every enrolled student with access to meals, is required to be uploaded via the Summer EBT School Reporting Template,” according to her letter. “Summer EBT student demographic and meal eligibility information will undergo a sequence of validation checks, before being transferred to the DHS EBT card vendor for proper Summer EBT benefit card issuance.”
In New Jersey, the covered Summer EBT operational period is defined as follows:
- First day of the summer operational period: June 15, 2024.
- Last day of the summer operational period: August 31, 2024.
These dates cover the majority of the summer break period for most children in New Jersey.
You can refer to her letter for detailed requirements for Summer EBT reporting for all school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Program for the 2023-2024 school year:
Webinar Information
The Division of Food and Nutrition will conduct a comprehensive webinar on the Summer EBT Program on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 11 a.m. School officials and all school personnel responsible for student demographic and meal eligibility information are strongly encouraged to attend this training.
The Summer EBT Webinar will be recorded and available to view in SNEARS, under the Training link, after the presentation.
Ramos-Szatmary’s full letter also contains a host of additional Summer EBT information and resources.
Questions regarding the Summer EBT process for school food authorities may be submitted via email or by calling 609-984-0693.
If you have computer-related issues during the Summer EBT file upload process, please contact the SNEARS IT Help Desk at 609-341-3817.