As our community deals with fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, we want to make Portland Public Schools families aware of a state benefit to help pay for food. The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program, or P-EBT, is available to help families offset the cost of meals that would have been consumed at school. It is administered by the Oregon Department of Human Services.

The P-EBT benefit is available to families with a student who qualifies for free or reduced-price meals and any student enrolled in a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school. For those families:

• Households who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Association Program (SNAP), which offers food benefits to eligible, low-income individuals and families, will have benefits automatically deposited to their existing EBT accounts. There is no additional paperwork to submit to receive P-EBT benefits.  
• Households who currently qualify for free or reduced-price meals or attend a CEP school will receive an Oregon Trail Card in the mail along with instructions on how to activate or refuse benefits. There is no additional paperwork to submit to receive P-EBT benefits.

For families not currently eligible and seeking benefits:

• Households financially impacted by COVID-19 may qualify for SNAP. See the program’s website to learn more.
• Families who have experienced income loss may now be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Apply online at pps.net/nutrition.

For assistance with submitting a meal application, please contact the PPS Meal Benefits Office: mealbenefits@pps.net or 503-916-3402.

For Pandemic-EBT questions, please contact the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Whitney Ellersick, Senior Director, Nutrition Services
x63276     wellersi@pps.net

Dear PPS Families,

We hope you are enjoying a safe and healthy summer break. Thank you for sharing your feedback on the re-entry survey we recently sent to you. While there are still numerous details to finalize, we wanted to update you on where we are with our efforts to ensure healthy beginnings for the 2020-21 school year. 

Dear PPS Families,

We want to make sure you are aware of a change in meal distribution. For this week only, sacks of breakfast and lunch will be available Monday through Wednesday instead of the usual Monday through Thursday. Sacks of breakfast and lunch will be distributed outside 14 of our schools, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dear PPS Community,

We wanted to remind you about opportunities to provide feedback on the 2020 School Bond Renewal, including one that is now open. The 2020 School Bond Renewal Survey is now available. The survey, which will allow you to share your input on priorities and approaches to funding, will be open until 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3: