October 26, 2022

In May 2022, Vermont implemented Universal School Meals for the 2022-2023 school year. This has enabled schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of household income. 

However, even though meals are now free to all students, our schools still need to gather household income data. This data helps Vermont access the maximum possible federal dollars for school meals, which will reduce the burden on Vermont taxpayers. 

But it’s about more than meals. Household income data is needed to ensure that millions in federal education dollars continue to flow to Vermont to support educational benefits and program supports and to make sure that these funds are fairly distributed across our state. Some examples of uses of this funding are:

• Federal funding for schools’ reading, math, and other educational programs

• After-school and summer program resources

• Broadband access programs

• Special education

• And many more

We need your help! We ask that every family in our school community please fill out this form to help create a brighter and more equitable future for all of Vermont’s students. Even if you didn’t fill out these forms in the past, doing so now will help Vermont maintain an affordable Universal School Meals program and continue to receive millions in essential federal education dollars. 

This form should only take a few minutes to fill out. Please reach out to EWSD Director of Child Nutrition Scott Fay (sfay@ewsd.org) if you have any questions. Thank you for taking the time to help our school!