JCPS does not require the Educational Benefits Form for K through 12 breakfast and lunch.
The district still uses the form, or Direct Certification, to decide fee waivers and other benefits. That is the first trap. The form asks about household income, so it feels like a meal application. Under Community Eligibility for 2026 to 2027, every JCPS student can eat breakfast and lunch at no charge without submitting a household meal application. The district still asks many families to complete the form anyway, and the reason is funding and benefits, not the tray in the cafeteria line.
Free meals and the Educational Benefits Form are different things
JCPS’s School and Community Nutrition Services page says all of JCPS is under Community Eligibility, often shortened to CE. That means free breakfast and lunch through the Community Eligibility program, regardless of family income.
A separate district notice for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program says the same thing for 2026 to 2027: healthy meals every school day at no cost to students because of Community Eligibility, and students can take part without paying a fee or submitting a household application.
Meals do not require the K through 12 form. Fee waivers and some other eligibility statuses do if the student is not Directly Certified.
What JCPS does say, in bold language on the nutrition page, is that all families are encouraged to fill out the Educational Benefits Form so the district can determine eligibility for various state and federal program benefits and funding for the school. That is the form name on the district nutrition page. Campus back to school notes often shorten it to Education Benefits Form, or EBF. Same ask, shorter label.
The 2026 to 2027 JCPS Parent Family School Calendar is stricter. Under “Fee Waivers and Educational Benefits Form,” it says parents of students who are not Directly Certified “will need to complete the Educational Benefits Form (EBF) in order to qualify for fee waivers and other free eligibility status benefits.” The Nutrition Services back to school notice also ties the form to fee waivers, saying the EBF helps a child’s school qualify for grants and other educational resources, “like fee waivers.” District welcome notes still say families who are not Directly Certified are encouraged to complete the form at JCPS.me/EBF. Encouraged and will need sit on the same district stack. JCPS has not published one reconciled line that replaces the other.
In JCPS terms, that “funding for the school” line is not abstract: the form feeds fee waiver eligibility and the poverty counts that go into the Needs Index the board uses when it weights school allocations.
Who is already counted without the form
JCPS’s nutrition FAQ defines Directly Certified students. A student may be Directly Certified when the household receives certain federal benefits, including SNAP, the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program, and some types of Medicaid. Students identified as foster, homeless, Head Start, migrant, or runaway are also considered Directly Certified.
Community Eligibility itself is selected based on the percentage of Directly Certified students, according to the same FAQ. That is why the district can serve free meals districtwide without collecting a meal application from every family, and why it still wants income information from households that are not already in those Directly Certified groups.
If you received a letter this year saying your child is Directly Certified, read it. You may not need the Educational Benefits Form.
The preschool carve out parents miss
Households with Early Childhood students sit under a different rule.
JCPS says those households must complete a meal application each year for the CACFP snack program. Applications are available at the school, through the teacher, or by calling Nutrition Services at 502 485 6237 or 502 485 3986. That snack application is not the same as the K through 12 Educational Benefits Form, and “must” is the word the district uses for Early Childhood snacks.
Do not assume a preschool packet and a K through 12 EBF are interchangeable.
What the income answers are for, and what they are not for
On the public nutrition pages, JCPS ties the Educational Benefits Form to eligibility for various state and federal program benefits and to funding for the school. Campus welcome notes repeat the funding line: programs and services.
Kentucky’s education department still posts a Household Income Form for Community Eligibility districts, and its fee waiver guidance says CEP districts that do not collect school meal applications must still collect that form so they can tell which students would otherwise qualify for free or reduced price lunch benefits. That statewide pattern matches why JCPS keeps asking for income data after meals went universal. It is not a JCPS invented oddity.
What JCPS does not publish on those same parent pages is a full list of every staff role that can open a submitted Educational Benefits Form, or a flowchart of every grant that uses each answer. The public promise is benefits eligibility and school funding support, not a detailed data map.
If privacy is your main concern, ask Nutrition Services in writing who can view the form, how long it is kept, and whether answers are shared beyond the offices that determine benefits and funding. Do not guess from hallway talk.
How to submit it, and who to call
JCPS routes the form through JCPS.me/EBF to MySchoolApps, which lists “Jefferson County Public Schools- Educational Benefit Form (EBF)” in the district picker. The nutrition page also links the MySchoolApps application path directly.
This is separate from the JCPS Parent Portal / Infinite Campus login you use for grades and attendance. Completing portal tasks does not automatically complete the Educational Benefits Form.
For help, JCPS Nutrition Services lists:
Shawnalee Smith, Specialist, Nutrition Services, at 502 485 6237, shawnalee.smith@jefferson.kyschools.us
Heather Dickerson at 502 485 6237, heather.dickerson@jefferson.kyschools.us (named on the 2026 to 2027 NSLP and SBP notice)
Lisa Shelby at 502 485 3986, lisa.shelby@jefferson.kyschools.us (named on the same notice)
Terina Edington, Executive Director, Nutrition Services, at 502 485 3186, terina.edington@jefferson.kyschools.us
In person help is available at the Nutrition Services Application Lab in the C. B. Young Jr. Service Center, Building 1, Room 133, 3001 Crittenden Drive, Louisville, KY 40209. The lab hours posted on the nutrition page are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can also call 502 485 6237 or 502 485 3986.
What to do this week
If your child is in K through 12 and already eats free under Community Eligibility, decide whether to complete the Educational Benefits Form for fee waivers, other eligibility statuses, and school funding data, not because lunch depends on it. If you are not Directly Certified, the parent calendar says your form is the one fee waiver and free eligibility status decisions depend on.
If you have an Early Childhood student, complete the snack meal application the school requires for CACFP.
If you refuse the K through 12 form for privacy reasons, document that meals remain available under CE, then email Nutrition Services your privacy questions before you assume the worst about who sees the income line. Start with 502 485 6237 and ask for the answer in writing.