2025 Summer EBT Information and Webinar Signup

A longer version of the message below was emailed to the Authorized Representative, Food Service Director, and Claim Contact identified in the SY2024-25 School Nutrition Programs application from the CNP system on 3/26/2025. More details about SEBT can be found at the Nutrition Services – Nebraska Department of Education website.

Public, Nonpublic, Special Purpose and ESU

All schools participating in the USDA’ s National School Lunch Program (NSLP), regardless of participation in the Summer Food Service Program, need to submit data for Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (SEBT) eligible students. The NDE needs support from all NSLP-participating schools to comply with the federal requirement to issue SEBT benefits to eligible students.

SEBT eligibility is determined in several ways and your role in providing data for eligible students who qualify for Free or Reduced-price meals benefits is vital. Students can qualify for SEBT by:

• Direct Certification matches for SNAP, TANF, FDPIR, Medicaid Free (MFREE), Medicaid Reduced (MRED), Foster, Migrant, and Homeless status;
• Residing in a household with a student direct certified for SNAP, TANF, FDPIR, MFREE, or MRED benefits; or
• A school meals application that determined eligibility based on SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR master case number or household size and income.

SEBT regulations do not allow students attending a CEP school to automatically qualify for SEBT. These students must have individual eligibility determined in one of three ways – direct certification, residing in a household with SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR benefits, or submission and approval of an SEBT application by the family directly to the NDE.

Action Item: The 2025 SEBTFileUploadInstructions  and the 2025 SEBT Upload Template files explain the steps for completing the data file, as well as how to upload a complete file in the NDE Portal. If you are unable to access or upload into the NDE Portal, contact your district administrator to provide the needed activation code to get access.

Complete your school’s submission of completed template file in the NDE Portal by April 21, 2025 to be included in the first issuance. Submissions after this date will be included in future issuances. The NDE Portal will reopen the “SEBT File Upload” app to begin accepting SEBT file submissions on April 14, 2025.

Action Item: Register for one of the SEBT trainings using one of the links below. Registration is required.

• Monday, April 7, 2025 @ 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT / 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. MT / Register here.
• Tuesday, April 8, 2025 @ 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 am. CT / 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. MT / Register here.

We will consolidate questions into a Frequently Asked Questions document that will be distributed via email and made available on the Nutrition Services website. Please save your questions for one of the training sessions for the benefit of other attendees.

If you need immediate assistance with the SEBT program, please contact NDE.SEBT@nebraska.gov