DPI outlines school nutrition programs, reimbursement rates and new summer EBT rollout

Lanelle Johnson, director of Child Nutrition and Food Distribution at the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, briefed the Joint Education Committee on the agency’s federal nutrition programs, reimbursement levels and recent program expansions.

Johnson said DPI administers 12 U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that provide meals and commodity foods to schools, child care sites, residential facilities and Indian reservation household programs. She said about 168 public schools and 25 nonpublic schools participate in the federal school meal programs statewide, with district‑level data on average daily participation available in the presentation materials.

Johnson described the structure for USDA entitlement foods and how schools may spend commodity entitlements on processed items or the Department of Defense fresh produce program. She outlined reimbursement streams: DPI received federal reimbursements to schools (about $35,000,000 distributed for meals served in 2023–24), and the department administers additional federal and state administrative funding to support program delivery.

She explained North Dakota’s expanded eligibility policy for a limited set of students (referred to internally as “state 200”), and said the state paid roughly $1,589,000 in 2023–24 for that expansion. Johnson told lawmakers statewide meal reimbursement examples for 2023–24: a federally reimbursed breakfast averaged $2.28 for free breakfasts (including a 30¢ state reimbursement to cover the family share), $1.98 for reduced‑price breakfasts and 38¢ in federal reimbursement for full‑price breakfasts. She said the state must provide certain matching funds for USDA foods and administrative match amounts noted in the presentation.

Johnson summarized the department’s Summer EBT implementation. She said the program — rebranded from Pandemic EBT — issued about 38,000 EBT cards in summer 2024 representing roughly $4,600,000 in USDA funds. Of those, about 31,000 students were “streamline eligible” (issued automatically) and about 5,000 students applied through the DPI portal. She described the benefit as $120 per eligible child for groceries during the summer months and said the agency administered the program in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Johnson noted other child‑nutrition initiatives and grants in work or planned, including team nutrition training for recipe and culinary training related to updated USDA guidance on sugar and sodium, USDA equipment grants, a local foods grant (potentially $2.7 million in USDA funds) to purchase local beef and produce for schools and child care providers, and ongoing Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program funding for schools that apply.

Johnson answered committee questions about share tables (she said DPI encourages them and provides guidance but local health department rules can limit what a local school may allow) and about the age composition of summer meal participants (she said participation varies; she estimated primarily elementary students but noted middle‑ and high‑school students also attend).