Encourage completion of school benefits form

August 22, 2024

Even with Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All program, it’s still important for families to fill out their child’s school benefits form or application. Submission not only supports students and their families but also school funding and local communities.

Whether it’s called school, meal, community, or educational benefits, the single-page form asks families to share household income, along with race and ethnicity data. Collecting this information allows your local school to maximize state and federal funding. It also helps students qualify for school-related fee waivers like SAT/ACT testing, athletics, band, field trips, and other activities. Only one form is required for all students in the household and should only take 5-15 minutes to complete.

Here’s what families don’t need to worry about:

Immigration, migrant, citizenship, or refugee status is not required when completing the form.
Provided income information is strictly confidential and protected.
Plus, completing this form does not impact eligibility for school meals; all public school students are eligible for no-cost meals if their school and district participate in the Healthy School Meals for All program.

For parents and caregivers:
Get in touch with your child’s school for the appropriate benefits form.

For partners:
Access the outreach toolkit and other resources from the Colorado Department of Education to help communicate about school benefit forms and meal program.