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UPDATE: Pandemic-EBT Assistance for Families Whose Children Get Free or Reduced Lunches The federal Food and Nutrition Services under the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Arkansas’s plan to provide Pandemic EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer card) assistance to families with additional grocery costs as a result of school closures. For each child enrolled in the National School Lunch Program, a family may receive a one-time benefit of $319, which is the value of the average cost of a school meal ($5.70) multiplied by the number of days missed in March, April, and May. This is not a cash benefit but rather a card that families can use at any grocer that accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Arkansas Department of Education worked with local school districts to obtain lists of student names and addresses for those participating in the program. Below is an overview of benefits provided to-date, initial and ongoing challenges and solutions, and a timeline of the program. Overview The Department of Education submitted a list of about 306,000 students that received free or reduced priced meals. The total benefit amount issued for Pandemic EBT was approximately $99,224,950, which is paid entirely with federal funds. Of those eligible: • 101,999 children were in families that already participate in the traditional SNAP program. o DHS already had addresses for these families in our eligibility system. o The additional $319 per child was loaded to EBT cards starting June 29. • 205,000 children were in families that are not participating in the traditional SNAP program (or who were in SNAP but the address at the school did not match the address in their SNAP case). o Because these families are not in the DHS SNAP eligibility system, the Department of Education got lists with the latest available address from schools, and DHS used that list to mail out EBT cards. o Cards began going out on July 9. o 151,000 of these cards have been activated. Challenges and Solutions Because this is a program that has never implemented in Arkansas prior to 2020, there have been some challenges both at the outset and ongoing that we have or are working to overcome. • Initial Challenges and Solutions o Change of Address – For many of the families who were not SNAP participants, the addresses were months old, and it is likely that many had moved without notifying their schools or DHS. By the time DHS provided the list of addresses to the vendor on June 25, it had processed 3,000 address changes but not all address changes submitted were able to be processed by that time. o Length of time to distribute initial benefits –There are only a small number of vendors that create and mail out EBT cards across the country. That meant that once DHS submitted the names and addresses on June 15, the vendor first had to mail out cards for other states that were approved before Arkansas. This delayed the mailing of cards by two weeks and resulted in DHS changing dates for distribution of benefits. • Ongoing Challenges and Solutions o Eligible children not on list – Since we issued benefits on June 29 for existing SNAP clients and July 9 and 17 for non-SNAP clients, families have reached out to say they either received Pandemic EBT for some but not all eligible children OR that their child is eligible but did not receive Pandemic EBT benefits. To address this, DHS is working with the Department of Education, which is in turn working with school districts, to confirm eligibility and issue cards for these families. o Large volume of emails asking about card status –Because of the delay in issuing benefits, the need for address changes, and the issue related to eligible students not being on the list, we received a large volume of emails from families and are behind in processing them. To address this, DHS is pulling staff from other areas within the agency to help quickly process emails and determine what action, if any, needs to be taken. We expect to process all the remaining emails within the next two weeks. o No return address – The vendor hired to mail out the EBT cards for non-SNAP families failed to include a return address on the envelopes. To date about 26% of these Pandemic EBT cards have not been activated. This week, we will ask families to promptly activate their cards as we will soon de-activate all cards that have not been activated and then re-issue them with correct addresses. New cards will be issued between now and September 30, which is the federal deadline for issuance of P-EBT benefits. The vendor, not the state, will incur the additional cost to re-issue the P-EBT benefits. If a family has not received a card for a participating child or otherwise needs to contact DHS about P-EBT, they should email pebt@dhs.arkansas.gov. As noted above, we are dedicating additional staff to process and respond to emails to address client issues and concerns more quickly.

THANK YOU MST PARENTS & STUDENTS! This morning's device pickup process went smoothly. If you missed this morning's MST pickup time, you have another chance from 5pm to 8pm this evening. We look forward to seeing you then. GO PATRIOTS!

Again, many thanks to the HCGC parents and students that picked up their devices today. The pickup process went smoothly. If you were unable to make it today, you’ll have another opportunity Saturday morning from 7am to 10am.

THANK YOU HCGC PARENTS & STUDENTS! This morning's device pickup process went smoothly. If you missed this morning's HCGC pickup time, you have another chance from 5pm to 8pm this evening. We look forward to seeing you then. GO PATRIOTS!

We are excited about our new 7th Grade Band Members! If you have a child joining 7th grade band, please complete the attached Google Form. This is an instrument interest survey. Also watch the attached video prior to making your selections. It is a great way to see and hear every instrument! https://forms.gle/PF5KCtoa1koEEPe89

Attention Patriot Nation: Please read the following message from Dr. Glen Fenter regarding virtual learning and device pickup. Thank you for your support of the Marion School District.

8-14-20 The Marion School District received notification of a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 concerning one of our student-athletes in the MHS Football program. The student is currently following guidance and directives from the Arkansas Department of Health. The student-athlete has not been on campus since 7/23/20 and no probable close contacts were identified. In addition, we will strive weekly to report the number of active students and staff positive for COVID-19 or in quarantine due to exposure to the virus. Faculty currently positive for COVID-19: 5 Faculty currently in quarantine due to exposure: 9 Students currently positive for COVID-19: 2 Students currently in quarantine due to exposure:0 Total staff positive for COVID-19 since 7/24/20: 11 Total staff quarantined due to exposure since 7/24/20: 13 Total students positive for COVID-19 since 7/15/20: 6 Total students quarantined due to exposure since 7/15/20: 10 For the privacy of all students and staff, Marion School District will not be sharing any personal information publicly. We remain firmly committed to providing a safe environment and will follow the guidance provided by the Arkansas Department of Health, CDC, and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. -- Kelly Fogleman, BSN, RN, NCSN Coordinated School Health Coordinator 870-739-5140 kfogleman@msd3.org

Please fill out the lunch application for the 2020-21 school year. It's now available at https://bit.ly/38joQnt Everyone should apply today. Even if you are choosing the MSD online learning option, your child is still a district student and your eligibility counts. If you've already applied for the 2020-21 school year you do not have to reapply. Thank you for your support of the MSD Child Nutrition Department.

Director of Bands, Monty Hill describes the process of choosing and instrument for 7th Grade Beginning Band. Email Mr. Hill at mhill@msd3.org if you have more questions.

Happy Thursday VPA! The attached flyers gives important information about how VPA will have Open House. The faculty and staff look forward to seeing you!

Happy Thursday MST! The attached flyers gives important information about how MST will have Open House. The faculty and staff look forward to seeing you!

Happy Thursday HCGC! The attached flyers gives important information about how HCGC will have Open House. The faculty and staff look forward to seeing you!

Happy Thursday MJHS! The attached flyer gives important information about the rules for MJHS Open House. The faculty and staff look forward to seeing you!

Good evening MHS Patriots, Marion High School will have Open House for our 10th grade Face-to-Face Instruction students and those students who are new to the Marion School District on Wednesday, August 19th, from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This open house is by appointment only, and you can schedule your appointment by calling the high school office at 870-739-5130 between the hours of 8am and 3:30pm. We will have to follow all COVID-19 regulations before entering the building. For all other students, including Virtual/On-line students, we will have a virtual open house. The virtual open house is tentatively scheduled for August 21st. We will send a link to access this as soon as it is available. Virtual/On-line students and parents, You will receive information concerning devices, schedules, and how to access the virtual classroom soon. We are in the process of finalizing all of this information. Our teachers and administrative staff have been working extremely hard to provide the best education possible for our Face-to-Face students as well as our Virtual/On-line students. If you have any questions concerning this information, please call the High School office at 870-739-5130. Check your child's school email, The MHS Facebook Page, and msd3.org for more information. Thank you and GO PATRIOTS! Paul Johnston Marion High School Principal

Attention Patriot Nation: Please visit our websites and social media pages for important information about device pickup for K-2 students and for students in grades 3-12 who indicated they'll need a device for virutal learning. Continue visiting our websites and social media pages for more details about device pickup and the open house schedules. Thank you for your continued support of the Marion School District! GO PATRIOTS!

Attention 3-12 Patriot Parents! See the attached flyer with information about device pickup. More information coming soon.

Attention K-2 Patriot Parents! See the attached flyer with information about device pickup. More information coming soon.

Please fill out the lunch application for the 2020-21 school year. It's now available at https://bit.ly/38joQnt Everyone should apply today. Even if you are choosing the MSD online learning option, your child is still a district student and your eligibility counts. If you've already applied for the 2020-21 school year you do not have to reapply. Thank you for your support of the MSD Child Nutrition Department.

Masks are most likely to slow the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used in public settings. Wear a mask when you are around people not living in your household, especially when social distancing (staying at least 6 feet apart) is difficult to maintain. Learn more about the importance of wearing a mask in public settings: https://bit.ly/3ee8iP4external icon

MSD Parents, we are excited to announce that the annual student update for the upcoming school year is now online! This process replaces the paper forms sent home at the beginning of each school year. You will be sent a snapcode to the email address the district has on file. The snapcode is like a key to your child’s annual student update information for the upcoming school year. You should receive a unique snapcode or snapcode link for each child in your household. If your email on record is incorrect or missing your code will be sent in the mail.