One of the most important ways in which we can help our children perform better in their classrooms is to provide them with the nutrition necessary for the healthy growth of their minds and bodies.

CELEBRATE IN SCHOOL
We now offer healthy and fun birthday and holiday treats you can purchase for classroom celebrations. Contact ?

FOOD ALLERGIES AND INTOLERANCES
If your child has any dietary restrictions or food allergies, please communicate this directly to our district school nurse. Once this information is received, it will be passed to the food service department.

FOOD ASSISTANCE

Summer EBT food benefits are now being issued to eligible children and will continue through October 2024. This webpage was updated on 8/28/24 and will continue to be updated as new information is available.

Benefits are currently being issued to eligible school-age children who attend public school (including charter schools) and received a letter in the mail that benefits will be issued to an existing Pandemic-EBT card that was used to access their P-EBT benefits. If you no longer have this P-EBT card, follow these instructions to request a replacement card.

Summer EBT benefits are currently being issued and new EBT cards are being mailed to eligible school-age children who attend public school and received a letter in the mail saying that a new Summer EBT card will be mailed to them. Please allow up to 6 weeks for Summer EBT benefit cards to arrive in the mail.

If you already requested a replacement card or filled out the address change form on our website, you do not have to do anything else, and there is no need to call the Customer Service Helpline. Replacement card requests are being processed in the order they were received and will begin to be mailed out in mid-August.

For information on how to activate/PIN a Summer EBT card visit the PIN activation webpage.

Children determined eligible through an application will receive eligibility letters and benefits beginning in September. All children determined eligible through an application will be mailed a new Summer EBT food benefit card. Learn more about how to apply and complete the application.

Children who automatically became newly eligible for Summer EBT because they were enrolled in Medicaid or SNAP, or certified for free meals by their school at the end of the 2023-24 school year or over the summer, are expected to receive benefits in October 2024.

Use your Summer EBT or P-EBT food benefit card to check your child's Summer EBT benefit issuance date, benefit balance, and transactions by creating an online account at ebtedge or downloading the ebtEDGE app on your mobile device (available on the: Google Play Store and Apple App Store).

Be sure to use your benefits soon after you receive them because Summer EBT benefits expire 122 days after they are issued. Please be sure to hold on to your Summer EBT food benefit card in case additional Summer EBT food benefits are issued to your child in the future.

FREE LUNCH AND BREAKFAST THIS FALL
The Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District is pleased to announce that all students will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch beginning this September. No sign-up or pre-registration is needed. The free meals are made available by the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) federal program. The Waterford-Halfmoon UFSD is also encouraging families to complete an income form found here. You can also download a printable copy HERE.

The form is vital for other grants and aid programs that will benefit our school. 

LINQ CONNECT 
While school meals are free for 2024-25, students will still need to purchase snacks, second portions, or other ala carte items. They can do this through our new pay system called LINQ Connect*!

You can create an account on LINQ Connect by:
-Heading to the Linq Connect website or download the “LINQ Connect” app from the app store
-Register using your name and email address
-Add funds securely to students’ accounts

If you have a balance through our old system, MySchoolBucks, it will be automatically transferred to LINQ Connect. 

Parents /guardians can still make payments with cash or check. Checks should be made payable to the Waterford School Lunch Fund. Please write your child’s full name on the check and send the check to school with your child. 

If you have any questions about LINQ Connect please contact Susan Frank, Shared Food Service Program Specialist at Capital Region BOCES at (518) 464-5133 or susan.frank@neric.org.

*there is a 3.95% fee (minimum of $2.95) per transaction made on LINQ Connect

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation.

The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

Mail:

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or

Fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

Email:
program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.